RWBY and the SCP
by Valley of The ID
Summary: With all that happens in the SCP it was no surprise the organization entered the world of Remnant. Rated T lot's a cussing.
1. RWBY and the SCP

A blending of RWBY and the SCP. This version of the SCP is that of a world funded organization. The entire planet has experienced creatures you can find in the SCP universe. The D class are mostly lawless people tried and convicted of crimes, sentenced to serve the world.

D12735 Works at this time in the Reality Anchor exploration holding facility 112. Sentenced at age 15 to life with no parole he is now 39 years old.

* * *

**D-12735**

D12735 waited patently as a clear faced helmet was positioned to a ring lock and sealed. He stood and shifted under the weight of the suit testing comfort and movement. "This is a nice one." He commented flexing his fingers in the hermetically sealed suit. "Tell the R and D they did a good job."

"Thank you D12735. Time. 0655." Responded what D12735 only knew as a watcher, or overseer. Someone the SCP put in charge of this section of the facility. In the control room the watchers partner asked. "Why did you mention the time?" With a scoff the man answered. "You should read the profile on D12735 he works more effectively when you say the time after he does anything." His second sighed saying the obvious. "Why pander to him? They don't last long."

They could hear D12735 chuckling over the intercom. He said nothing but any could tell he was practically calling the guy a newbe. "Why is the mike on?" The watcher asked.

"Keeps me focused. Some of these environments can be memtic. So when I hear you talking and get the time, if it matches my time, everything's going good, but you should know this. So? You get a demotion?" D 12735 asked amused as he gathered the first cart containing the sample beakers and equipment he would need. "Support is done and regressed. Sample cart 001 positioned. Ready at this end."

"0702." Responded the Watcher. Then he covered the microphone. "Just stay quiet and watch what I do. If you do talk, say the time at the end, if you don't I will have you escorted out by this vary large man here with the shiny gun, who will not hesitate to use it, then drag your body out."

His partner glanced at the security guards behind them then back to him. "You're taking this a little, far?"

The watchers aggregation was visible as he all but scolded the other man. "Have you forgotten this SCP is inherently K class? In addition, D12735, if you had read its profile, you would find he has a long history here with this kind of work. Dimensions, Euclid even keter class. He likes it, or can stand it, and does good exploration. He panicked only once. That's when he got those ears. That breach caused by SCP 002, he kept 025 and the clown occupied, or entertained were not sure, until a containment crew could arrive. That reality bender gave him the ears for acting catty, as 025 put it, even the clown laughed at that sarcastic joke. Hes classified as, safe to L4. He is a bit of a legend at this sight. Think, over three hundred missions." He watched his partner sigh resigned and call up D12735s profile and start reading. "One last thing, he opted to stay after his time had been served, and work with us." Turning back to the controls the watcher made sure all was in order before saying.

"Ok, room is sealed, lets power SCP 5001 up. 0712." Moments later an airlock like door opened. Two guards brought in another D personal. Pushed him into the room and closed the airlock. An automated recording called out. "All none D class personnel have evacuated containment room." The Watcher leaned into the microphone. "D 27555 enter the chamber of 5001 and close the door. 0722." As D27555 entered SCP5001 he was heard complaining about not being told anything as the door closed.

The watcher formally declared. "0725, SCP 5001 door is closed, starting recording, all defensive measures are now active." Whispering slowly filled the room, a background noise of words melding together. "Show time." D12735 whispered. Watching as four nubs on 5001 began glowing on the devices side. Like a home projector a light beam was projected onto a concrete wall. It shimmered like the old black and white TV static, as if one were trying to focus in on a channel, then the screen solidified.

Another world appeared.

The scientists checked the recording equipment and sensors. Automated systems took air samples, separating particulates in the air analyzing the different gases. Two small drones took flight quickly vanishing over the tree like plant life, of which shown with red leafs. Green grass of a meadow. Small green bushes.

"Gravity is 1.2. Atmospheres is, at 19.25psig and is, well, earth normal. 0735." Watcher said surprised. You are clear for entry." D12735 enter slowly to allow for on board sensors to adjust to the environment. "0736." They watched as D12735 in for all intents and purposes, a space suit move forward.

"Entering event horizon." He said some what thrilled. "0737." The watcher called out. He moved the cart dragging L.S.S. cords behind him, adjusting them as needed. "I am ten feet past event horizon. Sky is blue, environment, plants seems save for pigmentation earth normal, and gravity seems a bit heavy. Permission to set up atmosphere and scanning instruments then start gathering biological samples, grass, foliage, tree bark and leaves." D12375 asked his excitement, obvious to any.

"Ok, D12735." The watcher said formally. "Permission is granted, keep your heart rate below 145 this time or I'm pulling you out. 0740." With a nod and an upset grunt the D class set up the instruments calibrating two of the sensors then gathered samples. Itemizing the number of grass blades, bugs, calling out container number and slot number in the sample cart. Each movement the time was called out.

The newbe finely caught it. Covering his microphone and whispering. "He's moving like a dance, gathering is, well, not a movement wasted." The watcher nodded. Then pointed to the screen for him to keep reading.

A howl was heard long and deep. "0835." The watcher called. "North by north east." D12735 responded. "Avian's and ground wild life are reacting." D12735 hand dropped down to his knife, then he let it go. "I request another cart, I want these samples safe in case this goes south."

"Granted, move collection cart 001 beyond event horizon. We will bring in another D personal to collect it, take cart number 003. Time, 0837."

"Now it gets interesting." D 12735 said his anticipation rising. "Cart 001 entering event horizon." "0841" Watched called out. "Retrieving Sample Cart 003." "0842" As he turned the watcher informed D12735. "We have enough samples of organics, gather soil samples next. 0844."

"Copy." The same system was used but with digging tools and a hollow pipe for depth samples. Until he had finished with gathering soil and rocks, finding some unusual crystals of various sizes and colors when another howl was heard much louder.

"Same direction. Watcher?" D12735 asked. "0858, bring sample cart into containment, acquire cart 002." When cart 003 entered the event horizon Watch called out the time. Any major action D12735 did the time was called and the action voiced by Watcher.

Another howl sounded to the west.

"Time for some organic samples?" D 12735 asked. "Negative, D12735 your L.S.S. hose is only one hundred feet, over this uneven ground you have less then ninety. Time 0908."

"When's that other D class getting here? I don't want to lose these samples, I've never seen anything close to these crystals. They seem to humm, or vibrate, two of them shimmered, like some kind of energy was in them, I could move them to the airlock?"

"D 21555 is here and the airlock cycling. 0911." D12735 continued to gather the odd crystals. Giving descriptions, numbers of, containers and locations in cart 002.

"D! Behind you." The bushes shook and a large black dog jumped from it. "0923." The newbe said with a stressed voice. D12735 faced it beginning to describe the creature.

"Approximately six two or six four. Black with red markings on a white face, four legged one head, eyes are red, teeth are white. White bone like protrusions at elbows and back, hind feet appear to allow for upright movement, front feet have four fingers with a thumb, oversized and hand like, the fingers end in white bone like claws. Face appears to be covered in white bone with symmetric red markings, shaped not unlike a mask." Watcher grabbed his mike. "0943. You may draw your weapon if it becomes hostile."

"D21555, continue with airlock procedures of sample cart 001 and 003." When the second cart was in the airlock the man complained. "There's no room for me. I only have fifteen min of air."

"D21555 wait for the airlock to cycle then you can leave." Watcher told him. "0947."

"Watcher." D12735 "This dog is looking at the containment chamber, as if its trying to decide which way to go. It seems to be hesitating."

"Keep it out of the containment chamber until D 21555 is clear. 0948." Watcher turned to the guard. "Activate defenses to aggressive. If it comes in here I want it dead." The guard lifted up his arm typing on a pad attached to his armored suit.

"No ya don't." Said D12735 "Engaging." The dog like creature was heading to the containment room. D12735 ran into it with a shoulder slam and stabbed it. The creature reacted and backhanded D12735. He was lifted up and landed on his back several feet away.

"D12735 Disengage." Watcher told him. "0950. Security is informed." He heard D12735 curse. "It damaged sample 022 and 023." As he tried to disengage flipping his L.S.S. hose so he wouldn't stumble in it and described what he found. "Hide is tough, knife hardly did anything, fur is slippery or oily." "0951." Watch told him. "Can you disengage?"

"No, I have its attention now, sorry." D12735 voiced with regret. "I think I have to chase it away or kill it." Everyone could hear D21555. He had seen the thing and was banging on the air lock screaming to be let out.

The Watcher and newbe saw the creature turn away from D12735 and enter the chamber heading for D21555 confusing them. Security didn't hesitate, the weapons creating a din in the enclosed space. At first it rocked as slugs of various sizes hit it, ripping out chunks then it surged forward trying to get to D21555 before it fell.

D21555 was pressed to the door of the airlock frozen in a panic. Not moving when the watchers instructed him to gather a sample from the creature. Only when a round was fired in his direction did he move. By that time the thing was smoking, black vapor lifting into the air.

"Watcher?" D12735 asked. "I feel strange. My joints, hurt, like arthritis. Just started." "10:00. Describe." Watch told him. D12735 bent over a muffled groan escaping. "Watch, something, damn it, hurts, vision blurry. Uuahh!" He went down to his knees. "I, I hear ticking, like, oh shit! Like SCP 5501. That clock, it's the same sound."

"1001 D12735 mission temporary aborted, enter horizon." Watch told him. He could see D12735 vitals, everything was going nuts like a compass influenced by a magnet. Body temperature rocked up to 106 then shot down to –10. Watcher leaned forwarded as the D class stood shakily, heart beat over 180 and rising. Then he went back down to his knees, and began crawling on all fours, then collapsed face down.

"D21555 you are to retrieve D12735." Watch told him, when the man did not move security put another shot next to him. "D21555 the next one is going in your arm. Move to the horizon and recover D12735. Use the L.S.S. cords to pull, there strong enough to drag him to you."

"Watch?" The newbe pointed to the readings. Watch stared. D12735 vitals were almost gone, mass is different the contact sensors, half were not reacting. "Well, looks like you're a SCP now D12735." He muttered saying the time out of habit. "1003."

"Copy, hope they classified me as safe again.." Gasped D12735 trying to push himself up. "Everything's feels hot, suit feels loose now, like it's bigger, or I'm smaller."

Watch switched to a floor camera and zoomed in. "D12735 you are smaller. 1004."

"Gaaa, I hate it when I'm right. Trying to stand." Watch saw him struggle upright, pulling at the arms and legs to get the suit to fit somehow. He shook his head at the sight. "1006. you are about half your normal size, do you still hear SCP 5501?"

"Yes, not as loud now, like a spring not tight, I think nine or ten pings or chime like sounds, were in there somewhere, each one was a spike of painful. Overall the pain is abating, still hard to think, sorry. Moving to event horizon." "1007." Watch told him. "D21555 will assist you."

"Didn't secure my weapon." D12735 mumbled bending to pick it up. He fumbled with it trying to sheath it. "1209." Watch said and grinned at his blundering. D12735 was now more shouldering the sample cart then pushing it due to the mass difference. "This is going to be one for the books. D12735 joked."

"Everything here is one for the books. 1011." Watch corrected. "D21555 I want you to…" Watch saw a grisly bear like creature burst out of the low shrubs bounding to the event horizon. D21555 saw it, screamed and ran for the airlock trying to force open the door. D12735 didn't even see it as it ran over him. The sample cart went flying into the containment room and D12735 to the side. Two more came out of the wood charging the opening between worlds.

"Abort!" The newbe yelled hitting their big shiny red button. Red warning lights lit up the rooms, a klaxon sounded punctuated by a voice. "Emergency shut down, all personal to safe rooms." Then repeated.

"You idiot! This is not… That energy needs to go somewhere if not depleted slowly!" Watcher yelled. He pointed to the guard then to the newbe. The man screamed as the guard shouldered his weapon and shot him full auto. "Not much time." He told the guard's when they exited the chamber heading for the safe room.

Automatic weapons tracked the creatures hamming them as they chased D21555 around the room. The portal began to flicker the edges glowing from orange to red before collapsing. Energy flared around the mechanism, bathing the room in temperatures briefly exceeding the suns corona. Until all noise stopped. The glow faded and the smoke dissipated. The walls were melted to and past the ceramic layers, beyond the watchers station, the guns were gone, only SCP 5001 remained sitting at an angle in the now bubbling floor.

D12735 saw the flickering lights, trying but failing to stand in the oversize'd suit as the portal closed. "Well, shit." He softly cursed pushing to his knees. Not realizing those would be his last recorded words.

Pulling down the helmet so he could see around himself his words now for only him. "Well, I am still record holder, more dimensional temporal displacer jumps then any D class the SCP has ever known." He told himself proudly. Looking around he sighed slouching a bit as reality set in. "Big deal." He muttered to the world.

Getting out of the suit was like trying to tie your shoes while you had oversize'd thimbles on your fingertips, but once that first hand was free the rest came off easy enough. He scavenged what he could from the suit, which was to say only the knife and a belt with harness. Laying out the suit full length he lay next to it marking the top of his head with the knife then stood.

"I lost over two feet." Patting his face he tried to figger out if he was just small or young. Finely looking down at his crotch. "Yep, no hair." It had fallen off as if he had shaved. D12735 rolled the trousers legs up and then the arm rolling it in, pulled his jumper in before wrapping the belt tight so the pants would not fall down.

"This isn't going to work." He mumbled. Pulling out the cuffs he cut peaces of his coveralls to fill in the toes of his boots so his feet wouldn't slide around as much. Looking around he kind of laughed. The instruments were still there the seismic had been stepped on, but with out power they were just so much junk. With a sigh and knowing one direction was as good as another he started to walk trudging on until he saw a hill he could climb.

Walking for about five minutes he figured out that climbing a tree may help. "Ok," He asked himself as he looked around. "Got a long cliff, that's no good. Some runes, like an amphitheater. That's a good start. Not much for life, save that black bird. So I'll try the runes."

Ten minutes of walking passed before he ran into another of those werewolf like creatures. As it growled at him D12735 couldn't help but be flippant at it as he pulled out his knife. "You hungry? Ya, so am I." The two attacked each other at the same time. It was slow D12735 noted and not much sophistication in its attack, but getting hit by that oversize'd hand would kill him. Like before it felt kind of oily, his knife now oversized in his hand bit into its side repeatedly.

"Ya, I'm just pissing you off with this oversized toothpick arnt I." D12735 confided to the creature. It lunged as an answer. D12735 managed to sidestep and get on its back stabbing down trying to draw the knife along the ribs hopefully getting a lung. On his third try he did get a deep rake. He kept going as it stumbled finely falling. Once he recovered his breath he tried to carve out a chunk to eat. It started to come apart like floating dust from a fire.

"How the hell am I suppose to eat you if you turn into vapor?" He kicked it putting away the knife, adjusted his clothing muttering the whole time, wondering if all the pray did this, wasting no more time he headed for the runes. Finding it a strange sight.

"Ok, this is just eccentric, who the fuck puts chess pieces out in the middle of nowhere?" When he saw it he couldn't help but think of his Memetic class, well if getting higher then the moon was a class, in his almost twenty years he had seen some, more then strange stuff, but this? He handled a black king before tossing it to the side finding nothing that made it or the stand it was on unique or unusual. "Glad this is showing signs of a parallel world and not a complete alien one." He whispered running a hand along the stone.

He searched the perimeter and found some tracks and other cuff marks. The humanoid shape prints in the rain spattered dirt were old but reassuring. There would be no rescue he knew. SCP 5001 would when reactivated open to a different portal and no two were ever the same, so far as they knew, each time it would be a different world.

It was a good thing that what ever was here could be two legged. Some of the places he'd seen were anything but normal to the eye, and sometimes to the mind.

Climbing up the runes broken walls D12735 couldn't see anything else of interest. "Come on, a fire, or steam plume would be nice. A house, a car noise." He hoped in vain. A glint, a flash in the sky. D12735 Shaded his eyes. "Something." He muttered. It was in the air, moving, but not to fast. Organic or artificial didn't matter, it was a direction. The cliff was the last thing he wanted to climb, it looked miles away and at least a thousand feet if the soft textures from distance were an indicator.

Climbing down D12735 took care not to fall, the gravity here seemed stronger then the watcher stated and the air thicker making noise muted. Walking D12735 found a game trail that was going in the general direction he wanted. He took steps to look behind himself in case he had to go back. A simple survival tool, know where you came from.

D12735 was sipping from a stream using grass as a makeshift filtering system, hoping no fish or birds had defecated in this section yet when he heard a gunshot. He was up and moving when the second one came fallowed by light auto fire. "Hot damn! Something." Running over a small hill he stopped and would have laughed with joy and frustration but. "What am I seeing?" He tried to make sense of it, but meh?

There were a bunch of those black werewolf's like dogs, around two humanoid females. A young woman was spinning and flipping around, like gravity didn't exist. A black ribbon spinning around her like those dancers at the Olympic games. What was even more odd, the pistol at it's end. It was firing whenever she tugged on the ribbon, didn't mater if that strip was in a curve, circle or straight line. What was more nuts is she was hitting these black dogs. He counted three seconds before she came back down to earth.

Then the gun was a sword. D12735 blinked, ok, matter benders he decided as she launched into a group slashing so fast the blade compressed the air leaving white violet streaks behind it, yet no sonic boom.

Now, the other one, someone dumped a bunch of gas on her, she was flaming, on fire, and knocking those things around, each time she hit. Boom! They would fly all but weightless through the air, she didn't even seem to be dodging. D12735 saw two of these black dogs hit her. She just didn't seem to care. She set one on fire when she hit it and turned the other almost completely into ash.

One of the females spotted him, pointed and yelled, in English no less. "Look out!" It was half surprise, half survival that D12735 rolled forward and avoided the rake from one of those grisly like bears. D12735 came up with knife in his hand as it lumbered forward and took another swipe. He had fought bear before, well, it had metal in it and, well as big as a bear, and other bear like creatures, but not with only a knife . "This will take a while." He told himself to keep his spirits up. The next strike forced him down the hill. D12735 had no intention of fighting this thing when it had the high ground.

Things happened fast at this point. A bluish purple light, curved in shape came flying past and cut the creature, then the girl on fire flew past in a yellow brown blur and punched it. D12735 mentally went Meh as the beasts head rolled back. Jumping on its arm then hopping onto the shoulder using a bone spur for balance he stabbed the thing in the eye. The resistance was like knifing clay it surprised D12735.

He hardly felt the blow the creature landed on him, it seemed more a quick grab and toss. Flying across the meadow as he spun slowly. Like skydiving he had time to right himself before crash down.

It was a flash of yellow and a soft? Landing? Blinking like a rookie cop he saw a mountain of yellow before he hit the ground. "Nice try." The blond said. Dropping him she braced her arms behind her and flew off with a shotgun blast. D12735 scrambled to his feet. Watching the scene before him.

That bear was giving as good as it got, D12735s knife unbelievably was still sticking out of its eye. Grabbing a rock D12735 sprinting toward it, flanking before jumping onto it's back. "Get out of the way!" D12735 didn't know who yelled, or if it was at him, he did know this thing almost killed him, and he was going to return the favor. He hammed the knife with the rock, getting three hits. Seeing it sinking deeper with each hit. He felt and saw the bears arm move impossibly, a flash with pain this time. It had swung its arm like batting at a fly.

D12735 watched the grass moving at a blur below him. _"Ok, I fucked up, again."_ He thought before coming to a sudden swinging stop, hanging upside down swinging like a pendulum back and forth. A black ribbon draped over a tree branch was wrapped around his ankle. A ripple traveled along the band and it untangled, dropping him a foot before he hit the ground.

When he stood the fight seemed to be over if black billowing smoke was an indicator. Does all the meat like food displace he wondered. D12735 tried to straighten his clothing out, or best described as bunching it up so he would only have to swim in it. Rolling up the sleeves hiking up pant legs just didn't cut it.

His knife hit the ground as he was tucking in the waist. "You dropped this." The one with Black hair told him. With a hint of disapproval coloring her voice. D12735 grinned up at her as he grasped the knife and stood fully.

D12735 noted he was only up to her shoulder, well armpit, maybe. The other one was grinning like the best joke in the world had been told. D12735 would have like that, save she was looking at him. He noted, happy and pleased that he was nose level with those oversize'd fun bags.

Sheathing the knife he looked closer at her. "Your no longer on fire, and you don't seem burned." The two exchanged glances, confused or was it a, is this guy for real? Before they started laughing softly.

Well he thought, time to initiate the first contact protocols. Which when he thought about it, well, there were none. Anyone trapped in an altered dimension, or another world, each was different so only a vague guideline could be made. Most worlds held dissimilar atmospheres and the emergency tank held only 15 minutes of air. Enough to egress but little more. So first protocols were hardly needed.

"OK, hi, I'm D12735. Pleased to met ya." They watched him somewhat quiet the black haired one looking moderately upset. D12735 shifted hearing the wind and branches clicking together. "Um, and you are?" D12735 emphasized.

The blonde one started laughing, forced herself under control and said and asked. "Allright, hi D, what ever numbers you are, I'm Yang, what's the D for?"

"Disposable." D12735 answered without thinking. Her laughing stopped as if he just knifed her puppy.

"Disposable?" The one in black more demanded then asked. The way she said it made D12735 take a step back. "Hay, no reason to get upset, I'm kind of proud of it."

"What's there to be proud of?" Yang wanted to know. D12735 smiled. "I probably shouldn't tell you but I have out lived the other disposables past 21000." D12735 rocked on his heals in over sized shoes quite pleased.

"I'm calling in a bullhead." The black haired one told Yang. Who just dumbly or to stunned to say anything was mutely nodding.

"Those, eight thousand? Are dead?" Yang asked. D12735 shrugged who can truly say? The highest one I saw die was D27555.

She paled a bit, seemed to think for a moment. "Is that why you attacked that Ursa? Even though your aura is not unlocked?"

D12735 snickered finding that line of thought a bit simplistic. "You think I'm suicidal? Not on your life Yang. D12735s going to go on as long as I can, and what's aura got to do with it?" He frowned a bit. "But I guess, after that last mess up the SCP has to write me off, missing, or dead."

"This organization, SCP? Where is it?" D12735 shrugged at the black haired woman child. "You got a name?" He asked. With a sigh and a mutter she answered. "Blake Belladonna."

"You're a plate of a shoe that's poison?" She scowled shifting aggressively. "Oh, sorry, that may not be the same chemistry here."

She shook her head. "No, where is this SCP?"

"That's a good question. I wish I could answered, it would be easier to get home." D12735 told her.

"Ok, I think your just messing with us." Yang told D12735. "Your talking about a lot of people dieing." D12735 shrugged disconnected from that emotion by the shear amount he had seen die, and the interesting ways a lot of them did die. The close calls, and after effects.

"A lot of people would find that ok. Most are murders, the rest are worse, and all are sentenced to prison. Most to death row. If you serve and survive a year you're let go, or you can keep on working with the SCP."

"So, you?" Yang asked after her and Blake glanced at each other.

Me? I was put in jail for killing 37 people…" There reaction seemed so juvenile. D12735 had to smile at em.

"It's going to be ok." Blake told D12735 "A bullhead is coming and we'll will be able to take care of you." D12735 looked confused, seemed to understand then smiled before he laughed.

"Oh, ok Blake. Everything will be just flaming Ffiinnnee. I'll be happy to see those nice young men in there clean white suits." D12735 snickered he knew what he would have to do. Leave, he had taken it too far, but it was now a question of, how far will they go? Then he thought. Should I do anything? This is another world, SCP may not exist here, could have a different name, or it may even be a secret society, not a world financed one like his, and to them I'm just gibbering.

Yang was shaking her head half laughing and half frowning. "Well, you kind of showed up, no aura, attacking something everyone knows you shouldn't attack. Dressed in some mans clothing, which is prison orange. Spouting stuff about thousands dieing, and you being some kind of mass murder. So, ya." Yang clapped her hands in front of her. "It's a thing." D12735 stared.

_"Oh, gaa those girls just keep moving."_ D12735 thought. _"I think I'm in lust."_ Then realized, he felt no lust. "Damn." D12735 murmured. "I'm young." He said just fully realizing it. The two watched him a bit surprised.

"Should we even try?" Blake asked Yang. "He's kind of gone." Yang shrugged. "I don't know what they did to him, but it must have been bad."

"Oh?" D12735 asked refocusing on them. "So, I'm the one whose nuts? Na, I think I'll find my own way, thanks, but talk to ya maybe latter." He started to move away from them then Yang grabbed his shoulder.

"Now, just a minute. You are a bit off, and we can welp!" D12735 had grabbed her wrist, lifted and turned it twisting her arm, locking the joints then he bowed putting his light weight into it, flipping Yang to the ground. "Now it gets ugly." He told her. Then yanked on her arm with a foot on her armpit. The arm popped as the shoulder extended Yang gave a held back cry her face twisting in pain.

Blake moved so fast D12735 could hardly duck, he more then not made the blow glance off his head, and stumbling forward, she landed another blow making him fly a few feet before he skid along the ground. _"She hits like a linebacker."_ D12735 thought sliding to a stop trying with the world spinning to roll onto his back.

Automatic rounds traced around his head then Blake seemed to point the pistol between his eyes. "You have no aura." She told him as if that explained it all. D12735 could hear the faint sound of an aircraft. He puzzled seeing Blakes bow, it twitched. He blinked knowing he had to focus.

"So, you're going to kill me if I try to leave?" She shook her head. D12735 started to stand, about that time Yang was getting to her feet. Her injured arm cradled by the other. "Stay down." Blake warned him. "Shooting out your legs sounds like good therapy for me." She gave a head motion to the sky. "They have a medic on board, so you know I wont hesitate."

D12735 was content to sit there. Blake had almost knocked his head off and the ringing had yet to leave his head. He felt like being a smart ass, but the way she kept glancing with distress at Yang as she heaved herself around with a dislocated shoulder, well, he thought better of it.

"How does that even fly?" D12735 watched confused as the aircraft descended. The engines were out on the ends of the wings, like someone said, Yay, putting all the weight on the wing tips is fun, and let's fulcrum the weight for maxim stress on the aircrafts body. That is a wonderful idea.

It landed just fine, not even kicking up that much dust into the air. The medic came out and fixed up Yang with a crunching pop in a mater of moments. They made D12735 lay on a stretcher and tied him down. Only then did Blake stop pointing her pistol. D12735 watched it turn into a short sword like some kind of mechanical origami which she sheathed on her back.

His ears were still ringing so they decided to sedate and take D12735 to medical. They seemed rather scolding to Blake for injuring him, even Yang was upset with the medics and how they were treating Blake. Showing them her shoulder as a comparison constantly saying aura as if it was a deciding factor.

Once they landed D12735 was put on a gurney and wheeled in. Changed into hospital garb and put into a room with the usual, draw blood, test heart, and breathe deep kind of stuff.

Then a female came in, asked if his head was still ringing, which it was, she nodded and placing her hands on D12735s head she seemed to humm to herself. After a moment the ringing faded, then became nothing. D12735 blinked confused that he would get this kind of treatment.

He had heard about people that could heal with a touch, but never seen one, they were too important, busy doing things, mostly with paying customers who had a lot of cash. When finished she left without a word.

D12735 feeling much better worked on the next task and started to wiggle out of the straps, no one was watching or pointing a gun at him, so.

The nurse found D12735 sitting on the edge of the bed he had strapped too. She was startled, a small wave with a smile from him and she found him non hostile before setting down clothing. Telling him. "This is for you." D12735 happy dressed, the nurse blushing as she scurried out. "That boy has no manners." She told RWBYs team as she passed.

As they were about to go in when D12735 came out, finishing putting on his shirt. "Ok." Said Yang. "I'm kind of digging on the scars." D12735 upper body was marked with scars from bullets, claws, heat, teeth and something else. The one in red elbowed Yang in the ribs. They quieted down and stood still, watching him. D12735 could not help but feel like they were posing, like for an action shot. Taking in the detail he smiled and commented.

"Wow!" D12735 said eyeing them. "Cutie, hot, refined, and elegant. Nice. Anyone tell you, you four are all extraordinary looking lady's?"

"I'm not so sure I feel comfortable being admired by a child." Weiss told her team. "I know I'm not." Ruby said as she frowned. "This is getting ridicules, where is professor Goodwitch?" Blake asked.

Goodwitch? D12735 asked himself. Like the movie? Suddenly he could see it, like different children's tails they stood before him. One even had a hood. Then the vision vanished leaving D12735 blinking and confused wondering what kind of a dimension or reality this was.

Yang seemed to appear at his side. "Went on another side trip?" She asked and she seemed annoyed by it. "Common they asked us to take you to Ozpins tower." She explained pushing him a bit. D12735 felt her other hand in a fist pressed into his back. He recalled how she punched and half smiled.

"I'm tempted to let you sever my spine with those shotguns." D12735 told her leaning back and tilting his head to see her face, which seemed mostly covered by hair. "Just to see what they would do to you." The way the paramedics treated Blake for a minor concussion, this would be major.

"Yang." The white one warned. "He has no aura." Weiss reminded her.

"He dislocated Yangs arm." Blake told them. "I don't think he caught her by surprise." Now they were all staring at him. Yang gave him a push.

"Ya know." D12735 started talking as if to a child. "If were going to be friends you could try something like, oh, I don't know. We have someone in authority who wants to talk to you, would you come with us?"

Stressed to her limit Yangs hair ignited.

"How in the…" D12735 asked stymied at the sight. "He reached up palm out like a traffic cop not touching, trying, feeling for the flames. "There's no heat? How is this possible?" D12735 faced then backed away from Yang, muttering quietly confused, he was intent on her flames explaining. "I remember seeing you, fighting, it looked like gas had been pored on you, my mind went counter memtic, but it's you? A manifestation you can do."

The one in red took his arm. "I'm Ruby this is Weiss. You're at Beacon Academy and Ozpin is the headmaster here and wants to see you." She started leading him then asked. "What do you mean Memetic?"

"I'm still waiting for SCP." Blake told Ruby. "And why D is disposable."

The kid sighed, his expression saying may as well practice on you four.

"First my name. D12735 I am a disposable, why? I've killed people.

"Two SCP stands for Secure: Contain: Protect: It is a world funded organization.

"Memtic or Antimemtic is a mental discipline to keep ones sanity or allow action when a SCP agent encounters Mind Benders, Brain Leaches, Reality Benders, illusionists, toxic art, or manuscripts and there like. There is also other category's. Some of the creatures SCP encounters are safe, just strange. The next are called Euclid, dangerous and containment is more difficult and then Keter, hard to keep contained, extremely dangerous, and some are so strange or dangerous that it can only be monitored. A few are even classified as end of the world if they get loose. But that's a clearance I don't have being a disposable and all that."

It was a quiet walk to the tower to meet this Ozpin.

They did get chatty when lifting in the elevator. Talking about this headmaster named Ozpin.

**Tower**

"Well, this is a disappointment. No, no not you Ozpin, or any of you others. It's just, well, I thought there would be more." D12735 pointed a thumb over his shoulder. These four acted like we were approaching some mythical alter."

"It's not that all this is not impressive, in its own way. Hell, you've got people who catch themselves on fire, defy gravity."

Ozpin frowned slightly shunting the foreign sentence's aside. The person sitting in his office did not have a name, only a designation, calling himself D-12735. What was more disturbing, he is a child faunas, long black cat ears with a small tuff of fur extending above the ear tips with a slight mottling inside them, like the freckles on his face. Black hair, brown cat slit eyes, and teeth with pointed incisors.

The D designation stood for Disposable. That he was one of near thirteen thousand was disturbing just in the implications. Ozpin watched Glenda Goodwitch staring almost without emotion. That was a bad sign. With a sigh he asked. "How many are D class?"

"Couldn't tell you. Excuse me if I don't call you Headmaster, I hate using any word with master in it." Shifting in the chair the young man asked. "Anyone here got a smoke? I usually get one after a mission or event, and it's been a few days now."

With little waiting as if used to a no he continued. He had tossed away the idea of security, from what he had seen this place was like his only in form. "Last one I saw alive was D27555. So I guess, that many. He was used to power up SCP 5001. I don't think they would use any D class for that who wasn't new, had passed there yearly time, or just damaged."

Goodwitches voice sounded strained when she asked. "What do you mean by power up?" D12735 looked around at everyone as if he was puzzled by the question. Goodwitch sighed. "Let me rephrase. To activate this SCP 5001, do you use lives?"

"Nop, tech boys told me it's the soul it needs, body's just fine, well baring the lack of a soul, so it eventually dies, and the defecation, but they give em some kind of rubber dipper to take care of that." He looked rather surprised as if there shock was unexpected.

A rather tall man who was part cyborg was next to speak. "If you tell us the location of this base, you can end a lot of misery." His commanding kind words were met with sputtering laughter. The faunas kept laughing all but falling on the floor. Ozpin with a hand motion kept Ironwood from angrily retorting. When he regained some composure and straightened himself up. Giggling he tried to explain.

"No, no. You don't get it. I am D class but my specialty is keter and Euclid, dimensional, Mimetic, Cognito hazard and reality shift exploration. There is no facility, not here in this plane of existence, or dimension or reality if you prefer. For all I know were magnetic ink on some server and someone is giving us life by reading us." The idea of repeating something over and over without knowing it disturbed him to the point of assuming the worst. _"Damn you, all of you. If I catch the writer I'll end it slowly."_

Sighing he refocused and continued. "SCP 5001 when powered up opens a door, a portal to a different place, reality or dimension, each world is different. It's done usually when the research teams have some free time. The D class goes in, it activates, and we gather samples from the world SCP 5001 opens to us and the lab techs have a heyday with what's brought back."

"Your from a different, dimensional plain of existence?" Ironwood more repeated to him then asking, suggesting with his voice that D12735 was disillusioned. "You seem rather young for that kind of work."

"Look, tinman." He said condescendingly. "I may look young, but I'm almost forty fucking years old." He stood walking toward him rather angry as Ironwood stood. "I have been with the SCP for over twenty years, lived past four breaches, and have over three hundred survived missions, so sorry if some of the Euclid and keter effects, the reality bending don't fit in with your world view."

"I think." Ozpins voiced, demanding attention. "That calm, less accusations to this unique situation should be made until we have more information." He waited until Ironwood and D 12735 regained their seats.

"I believe." Ozpin straightened up at his desk chair. "If we understand the events that brought you to the Emerald Forest, during a field trip for our students, that would help us to understand your situation better."

The, what looked like a tall ten year boy muttered. "Emerald? Ozpin? Oz!?" Then he flopped his arms in an over exaggerated shrug retaking his seat. "Fire away." He told Ozpin.

Sighing Ozpin asked as clearly as he could. "Would you describe the events leading you to us?"

"Piff. Sure. After the morning workout I was escorted to containment chamber, well they don't tell us the number, so I don't know. I was given a readout of what was expected of me. I always like it when they do that. Tells me they want a successful mission. Most importantly for me that I'm not the one feeding SCP 5001. Like I said it needs a soul to work."

He taped the upper part of his chest pocket, muttered then continued. "SCP 5001 is seven feet tall, about ten long and five deep, on a platform twice that size, it has four bud like protrusions facing one side. Facing a wall. On the back is a door, inside is a circle chamber, within a handle that allows the persons standing in it to close the door." D12735 took a breath.

"Other then an on off switch. There are no switches of any kind or controls on the device. Once the door is closed anyone within twenty feet can hear what sounds like a multitude of people whispering, that goes on for thirty to forty eight hours. After a warm up a portal opens to another world, no two are the same. The eggheads when they have down time like to explore, find new and unusual items. Like these crystals I found here."

"You killed a person just to explore?" Goodwitch asked. D12735 looked offended. "No Good Witch of the East, I didn't bring him, the damn guards did, like they brought me!" D12735 continued rather heated. "He was all but shoved into that thing, I'm just glad it was him, not me." D12735 watched this woman wondering why one life was upsetting her so much. He remembered an entire city emptying. The thing that draped over the city took six nuke's to dissipate and the hand full of survivors talked backwards.

"This is all rather fictional. Do you have any proof?" Ironwood asked.

"About the only thing that I have on me right now is this knife and clothing. There is some instruments and the environmental suit. Which was left at the target sight." D12735 stood and offered Ironwood the knife.

Ironwood examined the knife a bit before laying it on Ozpins desk. "I want to do some tests." He explained giving D12735 no say in the matter.

Ozpin leaned forward looking at the blade. "Can you find this entry point?" D12735 nodded. "I've traced my path through the black woods and a building whose walls, rooms and corridors shifted, a static forest is not a problem." D12735 watched the expressions they held then sighed in a do I have to explain everything.

"It was a living building ok, some nut job killed about two hundred people in some kind of ritual to his god, then built a home on the site. It had laid dormant for years then went active, turns out there was a descendant of the ones who killed them in the house. So the ghosts woke up, took control of the building shifting rooms, halls, everything to keep him inside to kill him, and anyone related to or defending him."

"I hope he's insane." Whispered Weiss. "If he's not, the world is going to be a lot different." The rest of RWBY nodded. Why Ozpin asked them to stay still bothered Yang. Stable comfort Ozpin had said. This kid swore worse then Qrow when he's angry. Had no respect for Ironwood and seemed ready to fight him. Yang shook her head thinking and hoping that he better be dealing with less then a full deck.

"Your clothing was over sized for you, why?" Ozpin leaned back having looked the knife over finding it made of a casting and ground to an edge, a primitive technique, and was trying to cool down his heart after hearing, true or not, of someone sacrificed peoples souls to unknown gods and enigmatic mechanisms.

"Oh, ya. There is a Euclid device. It's all clockwork gears, kind of like this room, but this thing is about the size of your desk. It has a single key slot in it. They had me turn the key, you go to a point and it clicks, the gears turn and it makes a ticking sound. They had me turn it ten clicks counter clock ways." D12735 tilted back as if trying to remember something.

"I was handling some strange crystals they were red, green, yellow, white, brown, and some odd combinations. I was handing I think a blue and purple one when this black creature with a white face came into our controlled egress. It headed for the entry point, I attacked, and it knocked me back before heading for D21555, still wonder why, I was right there and I had attacked it. But anywho, the containers and samples were crushed when I was hit. There was some kind of energy discharge. I think that and the Euclid device forced a reaction, I heard the same ticking sound as the clock, and well, was painfully aged backwards."

"Refined those types of crystals dilate time." Ozpin said then puzzled for a bit saying slowly. " You had no idea what this device would do? Yet you still…?" Ozpin stopped suddenly realizing. "You, disposable, they wanted to know how it worked, what it did, and you were at hand." D12735 nodded, smiling that somebody finely got it. "It's hard to say no with a weapon pointed at your head." He added then seemed to think for a bit before confiding in them.

"To be fair I was on a double demerit at that time for fighting in the cafeteria." He told Ozpin. "The higher up's don't like wasting us, unless they have to, and it's bad for public relations." D12735 didn't see the stressed looks team RWBY gave each other.

"This explains much, your behavior, lack of any fear. Alike to old solders of the twenty year war." Ozpin sighed at that painful memory rubbing his forehead before requesting of Ironwood.

"Ironwood would you and Team RWBY accompany." He seemed to stare at the man child. "Escort Dee to where he abandoned this suit and equipment, bring it to Beacon."

As they stood D12735 asked. "Do you have any food? It's been a while, that is, almost all day since I've eaten." That seemed to shift the mood. Ozpin looked out the window the sun becoming low but still a few hours from the horizon. "Perhaps this is best done tomorrow, just getting out there and an unknown walk could put the entire team in unnecessary danger."

"Well, I do remember some runs with chess peace's scattered about. If we jump to there it's not but a twenty minute walk." D12735 offered as a solution.

Ozpin looked like he was holding back a laugh or some kind of amusement. "I see. Did you touch any of them?"

D12735 answered straight up. "I picked up a black king, but I tossed it."

"We need to go as soon as possible." Ironwood told them heading for the elevator.

When they were gone Goodwitch rolled her eyes. "No. I can see it on your face. Any can see that child is a psychopath, he can kill someone and not bat an eye. Who knows what values he holds. By my life, he tried to barter a meal for cooperation?" Goodwitch walked closer to Ozpins desk.

"His whole history is that of a number, he I don't think remembers his name. You called him Dee and he accepted it as his number here." She glared at Ozpin seeing he was not moved by her urging.

"I will officially report this, if there is a device or a suit and if they are made out of any materials we don't have or can't make this will need to be made known."

"Even so." Ozpin stated formally to Goodwitch. "It will give confirmation of his claim. So there is that. What I am disturbed with is, if true, did anything fallow him? When he entered our world?" Seeing Goodwitchs blank look of shock made the whole thing worth it. Ozpin sipped some coffee to celebrate.

The bullhead ride to the runes was uneventful and short. They offloaded as it hovered D12735 taking his time, making sure his landing was right so he would not brake anything. The others carelessly jumped as if twenty feet was nothing to them.

D12735 quickly oriented himself. Found his marks in the grass and his tracks in the forest. It took them as he said twenty minutes. A small meadow held only an instrument package and an environment suit laid out neatly on the grass. A three hose system braided in wound steel, strung out to a point where they were cut by heat.

Ironwood sent up a flare telling the bullhead where they were. It turned out to be a quick enough that they even had time for diner.

D12735 ate like he had not eaten for days. Finishing off the food like only an effective eating machine could.

Goodwitch entered the cafeteria. "Dee." She called walking closer to him. "Dee." D12735 looked up saw her and jumped to attention. "Yes Mam."

She sighed. "Do not address me as such, professor or professor Goodwitch will do. I have accommodations for you." He stood waiting. She sighed again. "If you have finished your meal?

"Yes I have." He declared. With another frustrated sigh she turned. "Fallow me." D12735 fallowed and all but became her shadow.

Ruby walked over to the table he used. Looking at the leftover meal. "He wasn't finished." She told her team as she returned to her seat.

"I don't think it would matter." Weiss commented dryly. "He's akin to an Atlesian soldier the way he acted."

"Are Atlesian soldiers anti social?" Blake asked. Weiss for a moment thought she was baiting her, but Blakes face and eyes said otherwise. "No, not like that. Once we told him where things were he separated from us immediately." She admitted.

"He's a little psycho." Yang hrumped. "I think I may let you cripple me, just to see what happens to you." She mimicked D12735s voice. Yang sighed explaining what he did. "Trouble is, he leaned into Amber right after he said that." She set down her food and started brooding.

"Ozpin did say he held no fear." Ruby offered. "If just that house is true, well, twenty years is a long time, you could experience, a lot."

Blake pushed away her food talking low. "He talked about three hundred missions, four break outs? What does that mean, a prison brake out? Fighting creatures, things, that warp matter, even reality, some so strong they may as well be gods. He talks like he's fought them or survived them." Blake told them. "When Yang grabbed his shoulder, he flipped her, quick. Then he said. _Now it gets ugly_. And popped her arm right out of its socket."

"That's when you hit him? Right?" Weiss asked. Blake nodded holding up two fingers. "Twice, the first blow he managed to deflect but he was thrown off balance so the second took him down."

"But." Ruby stopped eating looking to Blake and Yang. "He has no aura, he shouldn't be able to do that." She almost protested.

"If you fight things that make a Ursa look week, you learn how or die, I guess." Yang muttered. "The way he went after that last Ursa, I thought he was a suicide in the making, but now, I really think he thought he could take it down, even with a dime store knife." Then she laughed it made her group wince that wasn't a Yang laugh.

"Remember Ozpin asking what, if any chess piece he took?" Yang waited for her team to finish glancing at each other and nod. "I get the feeling he wants this little psycho to join up, have his aura unlocked, and learn how to use it."

"That may explain why Goodwitch is, well, tense with him." Ruby sighed. Then perked up. "I wonder what kind of stories he has." Weiss took Rubys shoulder telling her sincerely. "I've met solders, who fought in the last war, they were old, but remembered. Blood Ruby, most of their stories were of blood and death. With him, I would wager that house that kills people is one of the more docile story's."

* * *

Well that's it for now. Leave a comment and give your thoughts. Still new at this stuff so anything to help improve my writing helps a lot.

Did a little rewrite, don't know if it helped, so let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

A blending of RWBY and the SCP.

This version of the SCP is that of a world funded organization. The entire planet has experienced creatures you can find in the SCP universe. The D class are mostly lawless people tried and convicted of crimes, sentenced to serve the world.

D12735 Finds himself marooned on Remnant and trys to find his way in a new world, one that he believes is artificial, and the factually must deal with someone who knows more then they should, even if it is just to him bedtime story's.

* * *

**A different kind of madness**

"This will be your room, for now." Goodwitch told D12735 then sternly eyed the boy all but challenging him. D12735 entered the room pushing down on the bed. "A bit soft, but I would like to get used to it. Goodwitch slowly exhaled then gave him the short tour. Four beds lined in a row, two desks, some shelving space and what looked like a coat closet. There were stamped out look alike lamps on same shaped end tables by the beds. Two dressers on opposite walls. A rather sanitary place.

After the tour Goodwitch noted D12735 was studding her. She found it uncomfortable, a child's eyes showing deep maturity, of one who claimed to be a veteran in a world so strange she couldn't, didn't want to understand it. When Ironwood had returned and shown them the suite and devices she had to believe, that suit and helmet was like nothing she had ever seen, it was partly armored, held an air tank and was lined inside with what Ironwood called body sensors. The cloth when she touched it felt like silk.

She wanted to distract him so she asked. "I have to know. Why did you call me Good Witch of the East? If you are truly nearly forty years of age, that was childish and more then insulting."

He sighed unhappily sitting down on the bed. "It has to do with children's stories." He made an arm motion towards the door. "You have Little red ridding hood hunted by the wolf, Sleeping beauty waiting for her prince to arrive, Beauty and the beast who's dark nature only she can cure and Goldie locks without the three bears. All in one team. Now theirs the tin man in need of a heart, and Oz." He made another arm motion towards the tower. His voice becoming melodramatic. "The great. The powerful. Wizard of Oz. Just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain you will find he's a pathetic old sod."

He sighed then eyed her explaining. "Good Witch of the East helps Dorothy fight her sister the Wicked Witch, and protects her from spells and the animals she commands, I'm waiting to find the scare crow in need of a brain and the cowardly lion in need of courage, or Toto a dog. Maybe the woods man, who saves snow white. You're all mirroring a book written hundreds of years ago called The brothers Grimm. Fairy Tales. A book to be read to children at bed time."

Goodwitch watched D12735 for a bit hiding completely her reaction before saying good night and to await Ozpins summons. He bothered Goodwitch by asking her if he would be allowed to eat.

"Your just being insulting again, of course, we will not starve you. Also to keep things clear. You are not hampered, we ask only that you not leave the academy grounds." Goodwitch left the room more then a little angry, or she wondered frustrated. She was used to dealing with adolescent students. Ironwood had this same effect on her she admitted. "A man in a child's body. Sounds like someone's bad fan fiction." She ground out through teeth clamped tight at the thought.

D12735 spent time searching the room, turning up the usual, hair ties, some miscellaneous small items, dust bunnies, two old brochures talking about the Academy, they were two years apart. One loose board near the corner wall, empty but a good place to hide something hand sized.

The bathroom was well stocked. D12735 undressed looking himself over in the full length door mirror. He still was himself, just younger, most of the scars seemed to be gone, even the one that moved was also gone, which was nice. That thing when it shifted made him itchy. One long shower later the day was almost done for him. He stretched, getting the kinks out and aligning his bones before sleeping.

Morning came with the sound of a public chime echoing across the Academy grounds. After exercising D12735 finished his morning shower. He was just getting ready for breakfast when someone knocked at the door. Opening the door he found RWBYs team standing outside. D12735 blinked at them waiting for instructions. Ruby after a few moments looked slightly upset when she asked. "May we come in?" D12735 blinked anew before realizing what was going on.

"Yes, of course, sorry I haven't had visitors, well, for a long time. Normally when the door opened they called out the number and say come with us." He watched them for a bit then pinched his nose furrowing his brows in frustration.

"Sorry, come in." _Wow I have got to stop running my mouth, _he thought_, socially awkward._ To his eyes they spread out as one would for covering fire, a combat formation, he felt like sitting on the bed and awaiting for them to tell him why they were here. Instead he moved to the window.

Looking out seeing people walking around the campus. He wondered, a new life? It seemed impossible. He had been with the SCP for so long, a prisoner for the deaths he had made. He knew therapy, had experienced it in full, but it was for combat, obedience, to deal with near death, and worse then death, and the big one loyalty and all that, now he needed to learn to say. Hi how are you, and want an answer from them. D12735 sighed before sitting down on the bed. They watched him with glancing eyes before D12735 spoke.

"Why were you sent here?" The one dressed in red squirmed while the others watched him. "You are the leader?" Rubys head lifted she looked like she wanted to answer but kept quiet. D12735 sighed talking aloud.

"So, someone sent you, told you not to say who, yet you want to do the right thing?" He leaned back on the bed fluffing a pillow under his ribs. "How'd I do?" He asked.

"You don't have to be so,, analytical about it." Weiss told him.

D12735 shifted an elbow then shrugged. "Your asking someone, who has been a prisoner even if on friendly terms for over twenty years, who almost daily worked with a military force as someone who is disposable. The mind goes dead, emotions whither, there is only the mission, purpose, good work, and quick wits is a longer life. So that said, I have a long way to go, before I understand fully that here, in this world I am independent and free."

Yang and Blake rolled their eyes becoming annoyed. The white one held steady eyes studying him, and Ruby simply looked upset. Standing D12735 headed for the door, left the room heading for breakfast. To him this was useless, they didn't want to be here, and yet someone had convinced them they would or could help, a pointless thing thinking one could change years of habits, of living. To try and do that overnight is just moronic.

In D12735s room the four watched the open door hearing his footsteps fading in the hallway. "Well, that, just happened." Yang quietly said.

Weiss shook her head angrily disturbed. "How are we going to deal with him? You saw that look in his eyes, at the door he just stared." Weiss bent slightly her words more for Ruby then anyone else. Waving her arm where D12735 left. "Were suppose to help? That?" Standing she made her choice. "I would like the benefits offered, but we are not professional trauma experts. That is the kind of help he needs." She sighed frustrated. "We simply don't have that knowledge." Blake nodded in agreement adding her own thoughts.

"Does anyone? We may as well be dealing with an intelligent grim. Think about it, grim ignored him, twice, if his story is true. That is more then being without fear, it is without emotion." Blake stressed. "When he found Yang and myself, watching us fight I believe based on his reactions to Yangs semblance, he seemed surprised. So having emotion, the grim attacked him."

"He's a psycho. Nothings worth this. That speech? A what, pity me? Or just him stating the facts? Ya, that'll tickle your brain." Yang lifted her arms in a full wtf shrug. "Now the little psychosocial just takes off, it was uncomfortable enough standing at the door, now were sitting here in someone else's empty room."

"Yes." Ruby stood smoothing out her skirt. "Lets go, tell Goodwitch things didn't work out."

"Well, I'm not tracking her down." Yang told her. "Breakfast first, then tell her at combat class." As the others agreed they headed out, closing the door as they left.

"Oh, ya, this is fun times for all." Yang declared in a yangry flippant way. Entering the cafeteria. D12735 was at the far end. Four empty tables around him eating completely alone. With several school handouts spread out on the table. "Yang." Ruby moaned. "Stop being angry at him. He'll say he's sorry for hurting you when he can." Yang snorted in a ya right before getting in line.

"Aannd there she goes." Weiss said disheartened. Then she fallowed Ruby who was talking to D12735 asking him if he wanted company. As Ruby sat down she didn't look too comfortable until Weiss showed up. Then Ruby perked up. Weiss eyed the pamphlets D12735 was reading. His quick eyes noticing her unspoken questions.

"I'm just running a quick reconnaissance. This world writing system is the same as one I know, which is surprising, as mine has over six major languages and well over one hundred of various sub kinds. So I can read, which is a plus." Lifting up a pamphlet he half waved it at them. "Dust. Is what you call these crystals, and the world is called Remnant. The creatures your trained to fight are called Grimm." He seemed to Weiss pleased with himself.

After that, he said no more. Just kept looking over the pamphlets while eating until he stood all but announcing. "I'm going to the library, so you can inform my handler of my location." Was the last thing he said before turning in his tray and leaving.

Weiss sighed. "He is just too observant. He could tell what I wanted to know, at a glance." She shook her head concentrating on her food as if that could drive away the discomfort. After eating the classes started and team RWBY forgot D12735 until study time.

Blake was the first one in the library stopping abruptly to take in the scene. "He, took over a desk?" D12735 looked more like he was building fortifications, easily twenty books were piled around him, four were opened and a computer. He had somehow gotten a notebook and seemed half way through it. He didn't look up, just raised his hand in greeting.

As they approached D12735 whispered. "I hope Goodwitch was not too upset with you? The task she gave you all was well meaning but shortsighted."

"Ya." Ruby admitted, poking two fingers against each other. "Goodwitch was a bit upset, but she means well." She seemed encouraged when D12735 nodded his head still not looking up. "Well, I need to study, Weiss will scold me if I don't catch up on dust compounds."

"Wait." D12735 asked. Rummaging into one of his stacks he pulled out and handed her a book. "Teleafs Three Dust Constants, I found simple with exciting applications." He still hadn't looked up as he read. Ruby took the book like it may bite her before thanking him and shifted down a table before opening it.

Yang had meandered away looking in the combat section. Blake sat across from Ruby and Weiss had already set up for her study period.

The afternoon dragged on. The team left for dinner D12735 stayed reading until the library closed.

Goodwitch found him in one of the parks sitting on a bench watching the view of Vale as dusk set in.

Standing still Goodwitch watched D12735 for a bit before walking towards him. "You have information?" He asked her. After a few moments he sighed motioning to the bench, inviting her to sit. As she sat down D12735 asked once more. "You have news?"

"First, you are to address me as professor, or professor Goodwitch." D12735 nodded saying nothing. Goodwitch watched for a moment before asking. "Why must you be so difficult?"

"I'm in a twisted fairy tale and rather angry that this place may be magnetic ink." Then he sighed before shrugging. "Don't worry thinking about this. It leads to congitohazards. Then he looked her in the eye. "I take it. Professor. The head of Beacon has somehow integrated me into this society and or Academy?" D12735 saw her lips press into a line and he nodded his head.

"Isaac." Goodwitch looked confused for a moment. "I wish to be called Isaac. Isaac Able Cain. In memory of my old world, they are incredibly intelligent and capable men, one killed his relative." He seemed to have said all he wanted to say and started watching the city off in the distance.

"Not yet." Goodwitch explained. "I have limits to whom I allow into this school. You are until proven otherwise a danger to my students, of them all you have deliberately committed murder." He nodded as if he understood. "Where they may fall." He told her.

Taking a breath D12735 started to tell his story. "I am going to be blunt, so you'll forgive if I don't go into detail. If that does not satisfy as a condition let me know now, and I will leave." When she said nothing he dove in. "My uncle enjoys children, sex with them is satisfying to him, he is a bit of a sadist and I have the scars to prove it. My parents sadly were the worst combination. A drunk who had suffered a massive concussion and a mother, an X farmer from the mid north, who was more interested in partying in the big city and getting laid than bathing her children." He watched Goodwitch for a bit before adding. "I caught ring worm from being filthy, and then a tape worm from eating garbage before I was seven."

"I was raped around age three, a prostitute at five. A part of a sex ring until I turned fourteen. One year my uncle held a dungeon party. Thirty adults total with the same tastes as him. fifteen children as party favors. My uncle liked to hunt and believed in home protection, he had a lot of weapons.

I killed all the adults and seven of the children. The others had been killed by some of the more vicious animals at that party. Of the remaining. Two begged me to kill them, one a suicide, whose death I claimed or they would not have buried him in sanctified ground. The others were all but gone. I gut shot my uncle took care of the rest and then took my time killing him. I was judged and convicted as an adult, given a life sentence without parole. The SCP took me as per our laws. Gave me back my life, in a way, and gave me a purpose. The holding facility I was sentenced to specialized in shifting or dimensional rifts, contained creatures that would and could make pocket dimensions or down right shift through space and time. Site 112 has a one year program, after which, if you were still alive they considered your time served, I opted to stay, it did not relive me of D class status, but I was allowed more freedom in missions and the containment base."

He stood his intent to leave. "Let me know sometime this week what your answer is." He paused as if remembering. "Oh, yes, I don't think I told any up in that tower. SCP stands for Secure Contain Protect." Isaac left her as dusk turned slowly into darkness.

Remnant a different kind of crazy

Qrow, Goodwitch and Ozpin looked up as Ironwood entered the headmasters main office. "Sorry I'm late, you would not believe what were finding in.." He stopped in mid excuse seeing their concerned expressions. "What happened?" He asked approaching.

"I believe." Began Ozpin. "Our new guest seems to know much more then we thought." He nodded to Goodwitch.

Standing the professor paced a bit before looking Ironwood in the eye. "He called Ozpin a wizard." Ironwood glanced confused at Ozpin then back to Goodwitch.

Qrow made a grunt adding his two bits. "Wait tell ya hear how the kid tagged all of us, including Salem." Then he took a large swallow from his flask.

"Is this, a joke?" Asked Ironwood. "How can he? What we found, so far was this equipment tho crude in making has some of the most sophisticated sensors ever seen. That suit of his has every non dust protection you could cram into it, including a led lining. Lastly the blood samples show he is not a Faunas, nor truly human. He is not from our world." Ironwood stressed.

Goodwitch nodded taking a breath. "It would appear in his world we are stories he knows, we are to him living fables. He called these stories The brothers Grim. Fairy Tails written hundreds of years ago in his world time. Worse he knows Ozpin and Salem can use magic, calling her the wicked witch of the west, pointing out she controls magic and beasts. I have no idea who this Dorothy may be." Ironwood frowned Goodwitch looked stressed, more so then normal.

Qrow chucked laying his head back to see Ironwood. "Should have heard Goodwitch talking about me, I'm the scarecrow in need of a brain, then there's Lionheart in need of courage, you? You're the Tin man in need of a heart, he wants or says there's also a woods man and a dog." He took a drink. "Then Oz here? What were the words?" Qrow asked Goodwitch.

Sighing Goodwitch told them. "The exact words were. The great. The powerful. Wizard of Oz. Just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain for he is a sorry old sod." Ozpin looked down and physically sagged in his chair with a long exhale.

"Does he truly know? Asked Ironwood. "Or is this just similarities? What we found so far shows a lot of near issues, the iron is slightly off in the molecular, and the equipment is beyond by decades compared with our technology. Yet the components to make them are crude at best."

"Makes sense." Qrow nodded recalling the recording made in Ozpins office as he was waving his flask at Ironwood. "He talked about ghosts, right? I'm betting that thing can detect them, and whatever else they took an interest in."

"He needs to be removed." Goodwitch stressed. "Just his proximity to us and his knowledge of this book places him uncomfortably close to our truth. Weiss Schnee from team RWBY informed me his observation skills are robust. I made time and have seen him studding. He is capable of multi tasking in whatever research he is engaged in."

"Hold on now." Ironwood stressed. "This equipment represents major breakthroughs, and that kids enzymes some think will point the way to powerful antibiotics."

"Were not talking about killing the kid." Qrow drooled. "Anyone living through what he did needs a chance. I think I know someone who can take him in, keeping him far enough away yet close enough to have him at hand if needed."

Ironwood pressed a thumb to his forehead kneading a tense muscle before asking. "Ozpin? What do you want to do with this situation?" Ozpin kept looking down for a time before he voiced his opinion. "He is too young, to uneducated for our world, he needs to learn first, and then maybe, we can decide what to do with him. Ironwood I'm sure you and Isaac as he calls himself will come to a compromise, or understanding, concerning this equipment, until then it would be best to not estrange him." Ironwood gave a small smile and nodded his head.

For the next two days Isaac was left to his own devices. The students were friendly, mostly, some would eye him as if wishing they had an excuse to harm. He kept away from them, leaving when they approached. Others would become uncomfortable after talking a short time. He learned of the faunas, studied the history and watched the news, trying to learn about this new world.

The grim.

To him it was like a containment breach, K class, so many types of grim about, controlling almost all the lands of Remnant not to say for lack of trying to remove them. They depended, in Anaima at least, for a group called hunters to protect and eliminate these creatures.

The history of grim, there origins quickly devolved into lore, myth and legend.

Hostile creatures, air, ground, and water. They were beyond a keter class, more a cognito or Kognito. _The techs were still debating the spelling._ The people of Remnant said they were created by the gods.

The gods.

Creation and destruction the physical manifestation of two opposites, after that it seemed someone had intentionally misdirected, removed or destroyed any accurate information concerning them. Information was almost always found in storybook form, others were only myth or folklore.

Dust the history of.

It started off as a pagan worship, a gift from the earth mother, not the gods to fight the grim, who were created by the god of destruction, they were the manifestation of death. As the people of Remnant grew and advanced Dust became a tool. The religious political generational development guided how these crystals were used, in everything.

Isaac didn't find one nuclear power plant or even the mathematical study of it. No petrol engines, no electrical power generating dams, wind, solar, fission or fusion. It all ran on dust.

The crystals were mined, by hand to keep their quality. Dust was cut, shaped, some powered and mixed. Mostly used for day to day living. There was some jewelry and artistic business. It could be infused into clothing and items carried. Wind dust infused into shoes allowed for movement in speeds that seemed to be above that of lighting.

Aura:

The energy of the soul. Viewed as locked, Unlocked or no aura.

Semblance:

The manifestation of ones souls power.

Weapons:

Any style, type and lethality, powered by or made with Dust. Somehow fused with aura. The idea was abstract. A kind of. It just works mentality.

Isaac watched a combat class, seated next to the door. It seemed semblance could manifest in any form. To him it was mater bending at best, reality bending at worst. Aura could enhance all attributes of the body save it seemed sight and hearing. Goodwitch seemed to be in charge of these classes despite being second to Ozpin.

Academy

There were four grades of study. Each grade was cut into four semesters, each had down time of two weeks, a vacation of sorts, between each semester. Upon completion of the classes they became professional hunters. Isaac learned one could apply, depending on the five nations for a hunters license by being a senior in the mid academe's and passing what seemed to be a simple test.

Attending an approved school and then an academy would net one higher pay, more leeway, free travel and the like. Hunters schools started at age 13. Preschool hunters at 9 years of age. Isaac was a bit stunned by that. It was more conditioning then schooling to him. They did study all the three R's but the focused was combat, killing grim. They charged the parents as one would a private school, unless the parents were also a hunter or huntress. Isaac read that twice, a breeding program? He wondered when the master race would rise and take there due. Or was the attrition so high hardly any lived past 30? Academy's were financed by the reign they were in, basically a public school.

There were heavy checks and balances, any hunter with aura unlocked attacking or harming a locked or no aura person would be heavily fined. Sometimes loosing there hunters license. Anyone trained using aura, or semblance for a crime that resulted in a death was a life sentence, most were given the death penalty.

Jobs, there were as many as one would have in any world. The pay was interesting. Lien, one hundred seemed to be a dollar. Dishwashers and the like seemed to be the lowest. Cleaners seemed to be next. Fallowed by lawn tenders and car parking, miners seemed a bit off as it was a dangerous job. At the mid range seemed to be vendors and manufactures, ones who ran machinery of a complex nature, blue collar workers. Dust cutters and the like.

Isaac wondered what the results would be as he typed in his experiences into the job data search, keeping away from catch words like dimension travel or, well, maybe monster hunter could work, save that was more on site location, inspection of anomalies. When he marked the aura locked section. The next pages became inaccessible. There was a wealth of security jobs, a few exceptions and of course, private security. Most paid a livable wage, provided you had roommates and budgeted with care.

It was an interesting exercise. Being physically around 10-12 Isaac had no illusions, there would be no one who would hire him. That's when he caught site of Goodwitch passing the doorway to the library.

He had lost sight of circumstance long ago and believed fully nothing happened in reality for no reason.

His conversation with a god or a powerful creature that lived a strange life cycle had helped him to find a kind of peace with his life, knowing that in all the places all realities were somehow connected, even if it wasn't the same god. He also found fear, knowing there were creatures who lived before or with this god, outside and uncontrolled by it. The one he knew, SPC-343 had said when he fell, he would be there to catch him. Isaac smiled warmly remembering, that simple act of kindness had taken all mortal fear from him.

Isaac chuckled switching gears and held back his smile. _"Lets see how you handle this."_ He thought. He started looking up orphanages. _"This is going to freak out the administration."_

It didn't take long. He was starting to fill out an application when Ruby entered the library. Keeping his head down as Ruby looked about, spotted Isaac and made a beeline to him.

Isaac looked up as she came close. "Hi Ruby. What does Goodwitch want?" The young girl stopped dead in her tracks. Stared, gulped and stammered as she answered. _"I'm going to the bad place for this."_ Isaac thought knowing this was rather cruel to Ruby.

"Um, well she wanted me to offer, well, bring you to.. well, unlock your aura." Ruby gushed then fidgeted clearly she felt uncomfortable with this whole situation.

Isaac had read the rite, a kind of coming of age, with some, a ritual and bonding with others. "Ruby? Why? Anima teaches this is a kind of binding, why does she want you? Your team, Yang would rather punch me then talk to me. Blake acts like I'm some kind of traitor. Weiss just stares."

"Does Goodwitch understand this? Doing this is going to cause discord in your team. Or is she concerned I will take the orphanage option rather then stay in there world?"

He turned the screen so Ruby could see what he had been doing.

"Oh." Squeaked out of her. Standing Isaac gathered his books. It seemed, he had to admit, and it was kind of sad. This place was not SCP nor did they understand what a D class is.

They didn't want you to try and put your books back on the shelves so he placed the books on a return cart.

Without asking Ruby helped him carrying what he hadn't. She did stuff like this as others would breathe. When he first saw her doing the helping hand act he thought her simple. He wasn't so sure now. "Oh, ya, Ruby, I took the name Isaac. It's from my world."

Last thing he wrote in the computer before turning it off was. "Stop messing with good students, it's demeaning." Then logged out. _"Let them figger out who I'm taking about."_

It was after classes Isaac noted, he had been so deep in study's the day had flown by. Ruby was making nervous attempts at banter as they moved to one of the training buildings. He tried to help, but he had the personality of a dead three day old sun baked fish at a banquet. Soon they walked in silence.

The building was made for students to practice combat skills. Empty for now, each step echoed on the stone. Ruby led him down to the pit and seemed to be readying herself. Isaac sighed unsure how to proceed.

"Ruby." Isaac again sighed, this was so difficult. "I as you know am not good, and may never be good socially interacting with people. So as best as I can say, I want you to know I am grateful for your efforts."

Ruby stared, held back a laugh making it sound like a cough then covered her mouth with each hand. She smiled with her eyes muted laughter coming from her. When she finely regained herself control she nodded. "I know, and it's ok."

She placed her hand on Isaacs chest. He didn't pay much attention to the words, they were just part of the rite, they had power to only the ones who wanted it to. What was important was Rubys aura. He could see it, entering him flooding and warm, ending with an electrical like surge that made his sight turn white, blocking out the world.

As his sight returned Isaac could see Ruby had stepped back a few feet and was watching, smiling with that smile of hers. To Isaac it was like having been sick for a long time then waking up filled with health, energy, in the simplest of thoughts. Hands glowing he could see it covered his arms and torso, his body. Slowly fading back into his skin.

Isaac closed his eyes mentally shifting his mind, hearing the Gagoring chant, feeling how it spread, moving about prickling his skin. He pushed out mentally then pulled in feeling his aura as a tight shirt around him then relaxed letting it fade. "Nice."

Ruby again giggled it was a nice light show for her. "Well, I guess we did that right, ready for some combat training?" Isaac nodded. He didn't expect much and knew his semblance would come later, it was just puzzling what laws here would allow someone outside there reality to, in a sense, become one of them? Or was this something any world could do? On the other hand, with dust infusing everything, just this world?

Rubys instructions to him were, well, new. She was good but it took explaining how to do something in quite a few different ways before Isaac understood what was wanted. Night came before they knew it and it was time to stop for the day.

"How come I'm sweating? The soul is nonphysical." Ruby blinked. "What? Don't be silly, your using aura in the um, physical, and there different strengths too."

"Ok, now I know how 221 felt." Isaac harrumphed. "Who?" There was just no way not to answer Rubys question.

"A little sentient robot, with attitude, a kill all humans attitude, but really dumb. We played so many jokes on it." Rubys eyes lit up. "Your talking about your world? What did it do, um what did you do?"

"Ga, so much, it gets boring sometimes between missions and classes. With 221 if you told it you were human it would attack you." He watched Rubys face shifting into shock. "No, not like that, it was small, about six inches tall with no weapons, it couldn't hurt you if it tried, and it did. We set up a mike once on a plant. Started talking to it pretending to be the plant, and when it asked if the plant was human we said yes. It went into attack mode, but the robot couldn't even reach a leaf." Ruby was giggling not even trying to hide it anymore.

Isaac made a stiff walking motion. "You will fall in terror to the king of death, perish to my pinching limbs, your leafs are mine." Isaac sighed smiling. "Then it fell over, crying out for help, but refusing help from a human."

"No way!" Ruby said as she pushed Isaac. "Nothings that dumb." He shrugged. "What can I say, it was and we were bored. There was a bunch of stuff like that contained, just weird things, and mostly harmless. Items like that used to be sold to the general public, well until a harmless SCP mutated and wiped out part of a seaboard with a Kraken made wave, who knew it would do that only when the moon was full at high tide and the coral was breeding, but some of it's nice, like the ever full pizza box. The higher ups would rotate stuff like that around the containment sights. The best one was the vending machine, the perfect cup, of whatever you wanted."

They were entering the dorms when Ruby more stated then asked. "So, this 221? Do you think I'm telling you lies to have some fun at your expense?"

"Um, nooo. 221 was confused, a lot. That's how I feel." Isaac told her. "Well, this is my floor, so, thanks, goodnight, and good dreams." He headed off for his room. Ruby standing there a bit confused. "Ya, um good night to you too." She shook her head and headed up to her floor.

"Hiya Roobs!" Yang loudly bounced up to her. "You get that mini psychos aura going?" When she nodded. Yang smiled a vicious smile. "Good I can't wait to give him a proper beat down." She smacked her hands together emphasizing her intent. Ruby shook her head disappointed, the picture of Yang beating up on a kid in her head. With a sigh she headed for the desk to get some work done for her morning dust class.

Weiss spoke up next as she walked over to sit in the chair next to Ruby. "How did the training go?" Ruby saw the concern on her face and knew she wouldn't stop until answered so she sighed anew and put her pen down facing Weiss.

"It went good, his aura will be stronger then mine. He, did well, once he understood what I wanted him to do, he has some really strange ideas about aura, well, it was a good training session." She glanced at Yang unsure how to say the next part, even Blake was looking up from her book. Ruby exhaled with a groan.

"I,, I went past his aura a few times, cut him once, really good. He didn't make a sound and kept going. I had to make him stop so he could heal." She looked worriedly at her older sister. "I think, sis if you go after him like some revenge thing is going on, I think he wouldn't fight back, he'd let you hurt him, like bad. He knows, don't ask me how, but he does." Ruby turned to fully face her team her voice sounding stressed.

"When I came to him in the library, he knew Goodwitch sent me and I think why. It's creepy." Blake had put her book down and moved to sitting on the edge of her bed. "How?" She asked quietly.

"He was applying for admission to an orphanage, he showed it to me! It was half filled out. I don't think Ozpin wants him to leave."

Weiss kind of exhaled with relief. Then shrugged in annoyance at her team which by there stares from them goaded her on. "Well, it's good there monitoring him, and it makes sense. You can't deny that half the school thinks he's strange and he has no family, so an orphanage would be good for him." The three continued to stare quietly.

"What?" Weiss asked. She was getting annoyed at the way they just stared at her and went completely aggressive defensive. "Do any of you want him around?" She nodded vindicated as they averted their eyes, well all save Ruby. But then she would take in homeless if they let her.

"I know one thing, not all the stuff he's run into is bad, and some of it's funny." Ruby said then sighed looking at her desk, not wanting to study but. "Ok I'm going back to studying." Ruby told them. "If I don't get this right I'll mess up dust manufacturing class."

* * *

Thanks for reading and plz, leave a comment or email. I'm new to this posting story's stuff and everything helps.


	3. Chapter 3

A blending of RWBY and the SCP.

This version of the SCP is that of a world funded organization. The entire planet has experienced creatures you can find in the SCP universe. The D class are mostly lawless people tried and convicted of crimes, sentenced to serve the world.

What do you do with someone who breaks all the excepted laws?

Foster them, let them be someones else's problem.

* * *

**Which way the wind Blows**

For team RWBY the weekend came and went as normal. Monday being Monday things altered drastically. The first was no Isaac at breakfast, nor lunch. Blake commented near the end of the day he was not in the library. When Weiss, irritated by the, to her, false concern asked around, no one had seen the odd boy.

The next day, Ruby being Ruby asked the professors. Most didn't know about him, Goodwitch did. He had been sent to one of the lower schools.

"He is, notwithstanding his claims, a 10 year old boy, and has a long way to go before he may enter Beacon, or any other academy." Goodwitch informed Ruby in a rather cold way. "We found someone willing to foster him until he is old enough to be on his own." With that said Goodwitch went about her business.

"Well, that's a thing." Yang sighed aloud when she learned what happened. "I was so looking forward to, helping him train." She snickered at her own dark joke and left for her own training.

Weiss held no remorse in her statement. "He's where he belongs." To her that boy should be in the lower schools, and by her opinion she believed Ruby also.

"You may see him earlier then you think." Blake told Weiss enjoying her puzzled look. "If what he said is true. He is an adult in the body of a boy, dust, semblance, and aura. That's all he needs to apply himself, he will become skilled, and my guess is he will learn quickly."

Weiss harrumphed under her breath not believing it possible before setting her desk up for study.

**Spring Break**

"Dad! You did What!?" Yang burst out her voice confused and angry. "You fostered that psychopath!? Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Ruby and Yang watched their father stand heading out of the kitchen. "Never came up when we talked to each other. Let me show you something."

They had come home for the semester break, once the greetings and hugs had ended they had eaten and talked until Isaac came up, Tai told them about their new guest. He waited until Yang wound down. When things had mellowed enough he led them to the guest room and without knocking opened the door. "Take a look."

Ruby was the first in, the room for lack of a better word was textbook clean and organized, save for a rope stretched wall to wall close to the ceiling. Ruby zipped up to a shelf that held over a dozen trophies and awards from mid school. Academics, fighting, all the hurtles students aspire to. "He's there top student?" She breathed. Tie nodded his head.

"As far as the mental state goes, he is seeing three shrinks, well, two now, one couldn't handle what he learned about him. Also, Beacon is paying for the therapy." He sighed a bit as he reminded them. "Isaac is still over the top, and being an adult in mind, it will be sometime before anyone will consider him, normal." As Yang started to protest Tai held up a hand to stop her.

"Don't worry he left this morning with a bunch of students and a professor for an extended hunt. You won't see him. As for why he is here? Ozpin wants him close to keep an eye on him. I'm privy to quite a bit of odd happing's so I seemed the logical pick and being a hunter, he like you, has free schooling, and I get paid for fostering him, added lien I need for some projects of my own."

"Great." Yang irately flopped her arms starting for the door. "I'm going into town." She told Tai. A few minutes later her bike could be heard driving away, the engine gunning. Tai rubbed his neck sounding rather apologetic. "Yang didn't get her apology? Isaac told me he tried. Said Yang was being a hot head."

"He did dislocate her arm, and he talks creepy." Ruby reminded her father as she eyed five awards for different combat styles. "He's an expert shot too? No fair!" She protested. Tai chuckled. "So? There's two of you in the house now."

Ruby turned away from the display case and sighed admitting. "I keep forgetting he says, is, was an adult, with years of experience fighting and dealing with, with things." She looked down frowning a bit.

"Want to see some of the recordings he's made? There about the world he comes from." Ruby looked up hopefully interested. "It's not all pretty, but most of it is fascinating. If you don't want that, I have some of his grim hunts, he records all the fights, allows him to prove what was killed to the hunters guild."

Ruby made a face of confusion so Tai jumped in. "A bicycle helmet with four cameras on it, two others, one on the chest and one on the back. When a fight starts they turn them on and record the event, takes a bit of doing for the guide to certify all the kills, but it's a pretty good idea for getting a full bounty for the work done."

The two chatted for a while, until they went downstairs fixed up some snacks, things seemed to be going well in Tai's view, Ruby and Tai talked more then watched the recording unless something extra weird came up. The grim hunting record Ruby paused the recording and rewound to watch again.

"There training with, a death stalker?" Ruby sputtered. Tai just nodded. Telling her she should have seen the outburst on that one, and it wasn't the first. Nevermore muzzled, with a wing and or sometimes a foot cut off, crippled beowolves. They crippled that grim, cut off the stinger and legs, tied up the claws then play war games with it."

"Like that one kid, laying on the ground?" Ruby asked freezing the frame. Tai nodded. "That's the downed comrade skit. Someone with a full aura lays down right in front and the others protect them, for sixty seconds. If there hit, even once, it's a fail, another is retrieve your weapon, if a sword, someone sticks it in the grim and you have to retrieve it without being touched, he's made a bunch more, that's why a professor goes with them on a hunt. Parents here went a bit ballistic, even with the large amount of lien they were bringing in."

Ruby cocked her head interested. "How much?" "Well, each weekend so far, over a hundred thousand, each." Tai answered. "Most of the groups are aged thirteen and above, largest number for a weekend was fifteen hunters in the making." Ruby leaned back letting out a slow breath almost a whistle. "With the recordings, they're paid almost full price too." Tai added.

"Oh, it's not all fun and games. Some of the students quit trying to become hunters after a weekend with him, they get a taste of reality hunting grim. Some get hurt, but so far nothing major. Isaac plays it safe as can be, ending a hunt if someone is dangerous to the group or hurt, and any who do decide to continue start seriously studying after an outing. He seems to impress on them the harsh reality that's the grim." Tai quietly told Ruby.

"Why is he allowed to, well, run a class? That's what he's doing." Ruby sputtered. Indicating the screen where a student was trying to retrieve a weapon right under a death claws pincher without being touched. Tai nodded in agreement. "That's why the professors go. After the second weekend the amount of Lien they brought in made some parents take note, with everyone having there own recording, well to say some parents were shocked was an understatement." Tai went quiet for a moment thinking about what had happened.

"Some of the more outspoken wanted him expelled. I don't know about the others, but I believe it was because he looks like a faunas." Ruby frowned a bit confused. "He is, isn't he?" Tai shook his head. "The physical traits of a faunas are unique, he's almost full human, some kind of, uh, a reality bender, as he called it. A SCP 025 he, altered Isaac, told him he was acting catty, did it to him as a joke." Tai had a moment of hesitation wondering how much he should say. He kind of mentally shrugged. "That SCP 025 intended on changing him into a household cat, the kind that are small and you pet, a strike team showed up and contained 025 using a device called a reality stabilizer, or anchor. So he was only partly altered." Tai chuckled under his breath. "They did for a time call Isaac 025-A, then classified him as safe so he went back to his old name, uhw, number."

"As far as almost human, his DNA and some enzymes are different, to the point of study." Tai smiled lightly explaining to Ruby. "You should have seen the doctors, Isaac is charging them for any samples they take, and it's a seep price. Another thing, those instruments your team recovered, the construction is primitive, but the sensors are extremely sophisticated, Ironwood had to barter with Isaac to get his corporation."

Ruby blinked. "I thought, he." She could barely finish. "Acting, insane." She muttered. "Everything looked like he had been, was a slave."

Tai nodded. "A criminal, and sentenced to life for his crimes, so this organization took him, as they do others like him. They use them for dangerous, often fatal tasks."

"Like getting trapped, in a different world?" Ruby asked. Tai smiled and nodded his head repeating some of what she said to cement the idea. "Getting trapped in a another world."

Ruby leaned forward putting the recorder on the coffee table. "I don't know if I can get used to that idea, other worlds? Realities? It seems wrong somehow." Tai chuckled softly. "So, people moving, by foot over three hundred miles per hour is, normal?" Ruby sputtered a bit. "That's just my semblance! Nothing un-normal about that." She huffed.

Tai shrugged rather happy. "Well, that's reality for ya." Ruby made an incoherent noise and hit him with a pillow, smiling Tai grabbed it and then tossed it back, then it was on. The two turned that into a full blown pillow war. Ruby wound herself up and was yelling from her makeshift bunker. "No survivors!"

As all things are life went on. Ruby saw her old school mates. Visited her mothers grave killed a bunch of grim and hung out with her Dad and Yang. A few days before the end of the mini vacation The family heard bullheads flying overhead not one but three, heading for the town. Tai shaded his eyes as they flew past.

He knew that Isaac and company were coming back early, he just wondered, why? _"Well better intercept Yang before she gets wind of this."_ He thought. She had seemed better, her anger with the kid seemed to be abating somewhat, but she wanted some kind of balance concerning him. He just hoped it wasn't going to boil down to a fight. Sadly Tai did have to admit, Isaac could get under your skin.

He just had no fear, none or was it lack of concern Tai wondered, and he didn't like Qrow when he visited, calling him a responsible drunk to his face, yet seemed to be pleasant most of the time. You treated him as an adult and he acted as one, it was as simple as that.

As Tai went through the house calling out for Yang he recalled Isaac complaining on occasion how inconvenient it was to be so small. One of the few he had, well, playing the child with other children was the big one, but he seemed to be able to take anything life gave him and deal with it. Sometimes bluntly. He almost ran into Ruby as he called out.

"Sorry pumpkin, lot on my mind right now." Ruby nodded smiling. "You wanted sis for something? She went into town for some stuff." Ruby saw her fathers face turn into a concerned scowl. "Oh, boy." He muttered. "What's wrong dad?"

"Those bullheads? That's Isaacs crew, they came back early." Tai explained. Ruby blinked then fully understood. "It's ok, Sis doesn't want to slap him around any more, but she would like him to say he's sorry." Tai heaved out a sigh. "I wish it could be that simple. Come on, we better get to town, find out why they came back early."

"Perfect." Yang told herself admiring her new clubbing outfit. "This is going to turn heads." She also liked the disarming factor. Any seeing her would think. Babe with blond hair and nothing more. "Look out Vale." She told the mirror as she twisted and turned. She had just finished paying for her outfit when three bullhead's flew overhead. Curious she headed outside, her box tucked under one arm.

She watched one heading for the hospital, the other two the airport, such as it was. "Oh, no, he did not." Yang muttered heading for her bike. She knew Isaac was in that group. Patch simply didn't get much if any air traffic the boats were far cheaper. Her sister had talked to her about him, what he had been up to and she hated to admit it but he seemed to know what he was doing and she had been throwing a tantrum with him for what he had done to her. "Well, lets see what you do now." She told the wind as she drove to the airport. The idea he would be in the bullhead heading for the hospital didn't enter her head.

Yang found about eight mid school kids waiting at the buildings main entryway. She assumed waiting for there parents to pick them up. They were loaded down with backpacks and camping gear and looked like they had spent some time in the woods.

"Hay! Isaac around? I'm going to give him a rid home." Yang lied. Most of them Yang noted were the seniors of the mid school. One called out to her. "Not here, his at the hospital." Yang stared a bit surprised. "Oh, ok, thanks." She left putting her motorcycle into gear and sped away.

As she drove she realized a part of her never considered the little spud would get hurt, he had a bunch of scars she remembered but the idea she admitted was a foreign one.

Yang had expected a crowed of parents to be gathered, but traffic was normal. Parking she swaggered in finding some of the campers scattered about, two talking to a town official. Spotting Isaac was disturbingly easy he was sitting and seemed to be dozing, he would never have stood out save for the amount of drying blood on him.

Approaching Yang knew he wasn't hurt, backpack laying at his feet, sword, a gun laying next to it. What looked like a single shot 40mm strapped to the backpack. All of it needed cleaning. Him to. Only his face and hands were clean. He gave Yang a little hand wave as she approached becoming still after. Coming to a stop Yang gave him a lopsided grin slightly shaking her head. "You haven't changed." She told him.

She watched him open his eyes blinking away a light sleep. "Na, I've changed, just haven't lost my awareness, yet." He leaned forward rubbing his face. "There taking there sweet ass time in there." He yawned stretching a bit. "Sorry about coming back so soon, our teach kind of went all." He made quotations in the air. "I'll save you." He sighed leaning back. "He turned a simple fake, confuse and engulfed into a circus." Isaac explained. Heaving a tired sigh as he finished.

Yang crossed her arms feeling a bit confused about his words. "So? What happened?" She watched him chuckle. Pulling out his scroll then plugging in a flash mem he turned it on.

"We were doing all right, heading back to our landing point. We found grim started offering a greater challenge or resistance as our group was trying to leave. Guess they were tired of us waxing their black asses." Yang watched a group of kids slightly older then Ruby chopping away on a large group of mixed grim. With a trumpeting sound three behemoths pushed aside the forest running abreast moving in a straight line at the group. Isaac paused the recording.

"So? You going to let me see the rest of it?" Yang watched the slightly surprised expression forming on his face, then he chuckled. "Sorry, most want an explanation after seeing this part." He hit play. Yang watched hearing someone yelling out colors. "Yellow bait. Blue switch. Red executes." Yang saw Isaacs helmet was blue. Four pealed off seeming to be shooting randomly at the behemoths, while the rest dealt quickly with the grim around them. As the behemoths turned someone yelled on the radio Switch! Isaacs crew moved forward. Two directly attacking one, Isaac used one Behemoth tusk swinging on it to flip up into the air, landing near it's neck with sword down, it bit deep slipping between the armor plates of it's neck. Dark water shot out the handle of the sword like a fire hydrant.

Isaac paused the recording. "My semblance is liquid control, I'm drawing out the fluid from it, kills em pretty quick." Yang looked closer at Isaacs sword, square sided like Myrtenaster it had holes on the sides of the blade's becoming larger the higher on the blade and it was thicker like there was a tapering tube at the center. Then he hit play.

The behemoths were scattering there abreast formation sundered when that voice called out. "Red execute!" The blue team left the behemoths while those in red hats moved forward. Blue went back to the smaller grim hitting them from the side and just behind, when a huge crash of breaking trees and stone hailed three more behemoths.

"Yellow, Blue! Scatter and confuse!" There leader Yang assumed yelled. "Red?!" The voice asked. "Two minutes." Was the reply. The helmet camera showed a full circle of the controlled chaos. Someone yelled spikes and Isaac tossed some water under one behemoth while another, Yang assumed was the yeller formed it into ice spikes that bit deep onto its feet. Stopping its charge and slowing it down. All three bore down on Isaac who called out "Blue. Target." That's when the teacher intervened. The man dove in front of Isaac and drove one off, but the other warped a trunk around him and with an almost slow heave of its head tossed the teacher into and through a tree. You could see his aura flickering as he hit the ground tumbling and bouncing.

"Teacher Down! Blue!" That voice yelled. Four of the Blue moved to the downed teacher. Isaac suddenly was flying through the air, the camera seeing a large student picking him up and tossing him like a ball. He hit the forward behemoth in the stomach, and it seemed to deflate as liquid flowed like a pressurized fountain around him. It was like watching one of Rubys movies the dumb ones where you see what's going to happen and think to yourself why are they doing this? Can't they see the danger?

A behemoth caught Isaac and tossed him high into the air. "I can see my house." Isaac said into the radio. "Shut up Blue." Someone snapped. Red when your able enforce Yellow." The behemoth that had been hobbled stood waiting for Isaac to come down to him, not even paying attention to the large student coming from behind and to the side. From that height Yang could see the whole battle.

Yellow was being swarmed by smaller grim, they were jumping outside the circle the grim were trying to form. Keeping at the edges making the grim chase them, crossing each other almost random in their attacks. They would hit and bounce away never staying to finish any one grim. The effect was enlightening, the wounded were crippled in ways that hindered movement, like a severed limb. That slowed them down, kept them from joining the swarm and made them vulnerable to attack.

Red had one behemoth left while blue had two left with two blue helmeted students keeping one behemoth off the teacher. The large student managed to get the behemoths attention by driving his weapon deep into the side as Isaac came level with the trees. He landed on it's forward shoulders, took out a pistol and shot it in the back of the head, near the where the neck starts, you could see the fire dust burning in it's neck and skull. The grim started to thrash. A muffled thrum went through the grim. Isaac stood up on the behemoths head as it took a nose dive, landing on it's face and started to smoke.

Yang shook her head as Isaac ran down the head and between the last behemoths legs. "You're an idiot." She scolded glancing at him. "Hay, it's only stupid if it doesn't work." He responded. He had come out under its neck and stabbed up, leaving his sword in the grim, and scooping up the bloody teacher running off with him. "Blue, wounded clear." Yang guessed was team blues leader Isaacs back mounted recorder had a good view of a student using a short shotgun like weapon to blast out the last grims eye. The round exiting out the other side of it's head. "Sound off." Yang half smiled as each colored team voiced what was going on. "Yellow, Still thick with grim here. Red, just finishing off the last. Blue, wounded clear, grim clear, heading for Yellow."

Isaac was doing a large loop back to the teams when a flare reached into the sky. "Were going home! Reserve nothing! Kill them quickly!" Every student used their best dust and semblance in an all out attack, clearing the field in moments. Isaac turned off the recorder.

"And then we came here. Yellow and Red leader are still talking to the cops, and Blue leader is with the teacher in surgery." Shifting he frowned. "I still can't figger out why he jumped in front of those things."

Yang snorted all but laughing. "To save you, you simpleton." Isaac frowned deeper. "I was fine, ready to doge, retreat as needed, you can't attack those things head on, hell, the three were coming for me, which would have been really good." Then he called up the section of the recording he was talking about. "See? Two of my team on the right just behind one on the left. They didn't stand a chance."

"Behemoths?" Yang sarcastically asked. "Didn't stand a chance?" Isaac nodded. "There tough, but they have week points you can exploit like I did with that sustain burning fire dust to the number one spinal. Big blue nailed it in the short ribs. Thud used a solid slug to the eye. Killing one of them is, depending on the herd 5K each in our pockets. That herd of six, working together, trying to ambush us must have been really old, so. About 40K lien each for the lot."

"I, I can't believe you." Yang almost scolded him. "You to the world are a ten year old boy, of course the professor was going to protect you. Also. Behemoths are not to be trifled with." She watched him for a moment. Knew he was not convinced. Then rolling her eyes Yang understood, but she had to ask. "Just how many have you and this preschool gang of SCP hunters taken down?" He blinked, confused. "Um, not sure, all semester? Hay, Scarlett? What's our count?"

Yang watched a tall girl older then Ruby by about two year's coming over to them. She was dressed no frills practical clothing in hard boots, pants long sleeve shirt, still in that camera harness with a white colored helmet. "What? This run? About seven million total for each this week, another six for the last week." Yang whistled between her teeth at the amount.

"Nice haul, I have to admit." Isaac quipped pointing a thumb at Yang. "Yang wants to know how many behemoths we nulled this semester."

"Ok, off the top, without looking at the count about forty two, so far." She answered. "Possibly fifty, I'd have to check." She added. Yang puzzled a bit something was tugging at her mind, she blinked. "Oh, hay, you're the leader, right?" Scarlett nodded. "I'm the caller, yes. It was my turn."

Yang chuckled almost disbelieving. "You take turns?" She nodded explaining. "At the upper academies they form team's, right? So we practice. Incase someone becomes a leader there." Yang nodded slightly impressed. "And you color code your teams of four, using simple instructions. Evade, attack, faint." Scarlett nodded smiling Yang had it in one.

"Yes, without someone calling out you each have to pay attention to the whole battlefield. That's more then distracting. The team leader should take care of there team, not all of them, so I got to play overseer or the watcher as Isaac likes to call it. The older grim can do tactics, like what those behemoths did, they moved up to us quietly in a flanking maneuver, while the other grim pined us down, or simply delayed us, the first group attacked, after a bit the second group came in. They rely on you being too occupied with the other grim, unable to do more then react defensively. We try and treat them as if they are as smart as us."

She watched Yang for a bit before recalling. "Oh, ya. I remember you, senior from last year." She relaxed and seemed to confide in Yang. "We kind of get some advanced teachings, Isaacs been coming up with some pretty good ways to take out grim, those energy blasters are still a pain, but we make do." She laughed, remembering something.

"You should have seen it when he first arrived, Isaac was way out there, always studying, his strange name, keeping to himself, but he has ideas, unconventional to the extreme. I still remember Cherry telling me when she saw him practicing with a half dozen crippled beowolves tied to one spot, he'd put himself in the center or have them in a line, and practice dodging them. Just doing random stuff to see what would work. I had to see it, then try it. It's a lot of fun with there claws and teeth removed, and completely different then sparing with other students."

"You should see the practice dummy for sparring, it is undefeated." Isaac added with a low toned of pride. "What's this?" Asked Scarlett. "Real. Emotion? I guess it has been a rough week." Isaac humped with a raspberry which was way to forced. "Aannd, he's back to normal, it was nice, while it lasted." Scarlett shrugged and faked a sigh of disappointment. Yang chuckled a bit before asking. "Are you all waiting for the teacher to get out of surgery?" The two nodded. Isaac giving a none committed shrug.

"I think he's going to try and use this to kick Isaac out of the school." Scarlet confessed. "That prof was hand picked by the counsel of get rid of the ears group, he replaced our old professor, and the staff hate an eight year old knowing how to fight grim better then their teachers." Yang blinked stunned. "Wait? What? Eight? I thought he was ten?"

Isaac shrugged ignoring Yangs out burst. "It would be a pain, but I would still be going out and learning as I could." Scarlett shook her head sadly. "No, you still don't get it, if your kicked out of school you don't, cant be a hunter, ever. No other school will take you in."

The look on his face said it all. He didn't care. Scarlett sighed frustrated. "I'm going to go talk to the hunters board, show them what a fool our professor is, maybe get him kicked out." She gave him one parting glance before she left.

"She's like everyone born on Remnant, she thinks becoming a hunter is a great way to, change things, help the helpless, see the world, vengeance, become famous. Or all of the above." He shook his head leaning forward. "The truth, is grimmer."

Yang snorted almost disgusted. "Oh, you just keep that up, that was not even close to being a proper pun." Isaac gave her a none committal nod of his head. "Need to start somewhere. The point is, from the data I've seen, over ninety percent of the hunters are dead or quit before age forty, most quit the game well before then, and you can look it up if you feel like it."

Isaac pointed to his emblem a metallic gray symbol. "This is the SCP's Icon. The arrows pointing inward signify securing, the ring around it is contained, the thicker circle with the locking like vault shape is protect. I took it as mine, my mark if you will. I have no illusions about fighting these grim, with schooling, or without, I will fight them. The future of the people living here depend on hunters, to clear out, stop, and eliminate grim before they attack a settlement or town, even a city."

Yang sighed, rather disappointed and tired of it. "You can take the fun out of breathing, you know that? Right?" Isaac chuckled rather darkly for a young boy. "I'm just a little ray of darkness intruding in on the carefree day of the unsuspecting."

Yang tried to hold back her laugh turning it into a sputter. "That was not healthy. You really need to up your game D man." He chuckled softly at the twist of his former name.

"Your attention please." The gathered students stopped talking looking and watching this middle age doctor. "Mr. Blau is out of surgery and will make a full recovery once his aura replenishes. I would ask at this time for any here who would wish to donate?"

Yang watched the small slow stamped of students heading for the doctor even Isaac stood. "This should be instructive." He said standing and walking past Yang.

Yang scrutinize him for a bit. Knowing there had to be a way to reach him. "I think I'll go to." She mused wondering how this would go.

"Have you wondered how mid school students can fight such grim? I've been told repeatedly how powerful these grim are, how young students should not be hunting such things." He leaned to Yang as if whispering but said in a normal voice. "You all are brainwashed. You're taught not to risk yourselves, to play it safe, not to kill them all, you're taught in the end just to hold them back, not to win. The amount of lien spent on hunters could fund an army large enough to exterminate them. Yet it's only singles or small bands that go out? Most here could take their tests and become hunters right now. That's how easy it is."

As they entered the ICU the students formed a line. Laying there hands on the bedridden teacher transferring a part of their aura into him.

As they waited Isaac spoke up. "I should apologize, again to you, when we first met, my mindset was not for here normal." He sighed finding it difficult. "I still don't feel as others do, too long a time learning how to suppress emotions so I could do my job with the SCP I guess."

Yang frowned down at him wondering if he should be saying such things. "Ya know, you should take this slower, but what I wonder about, is, what baked you?"

"The black forest." Isaac answered. Yang saw some of the students shifting away from him. Some glances towards him seemed concerned. "Pretty bad?" Yang asked.

"Um, why don't you two talk about that, latter, like, when I'm not here."

"What?" Yang leaned forward her anger rising for any to see at the nameless student who spoke up. Isaac held Yangs arm for a moment before letting it go. "We had a campfire story time, the what was your worst grim encounter kind of thing. Once I started talking, I, I just couldn't shut up, until the end. We had to take the next day off, most couldn't sleep that night." Yang made an oh sound and backed off.

"Most wondered at first why I insist on everyone having three weapons. The black forest is why. You need your hand to hand, a ranged and a heavy hitting weapon. Some of the grim don't need to be near ya to kill or incapacitate you. Some you need to put down quick that's why the reserve nothing command." Isaac explained.

"Your crazy." A student blurted. "But in a good way."

"I am a product of my environment." Isaac deadpanned back to him.

"Yang you're getting advanced training, but that's mostly focused on law enforcement, hunting or fighting other people, not grim. The amount of selfish people using there skills to commit crimes in this world, its astonishing."

"When we hunt grim we do so with overkill, but that is why I succeed where others fail. I do not believe one cannot overcome them, no matter how untrained the adults think we are, I believe they, these grim are intelligent, at the least, guided."

"We train with grim, to fight grim, not other people. We find the packs, the large groups of them, and use the military like tactics I learned to kill them, heavy ordnance to thin them out. We bate them to separate from the pack and pick them off, always making them overextend. We travel in large groups, so we can stomp any grim we come across."

"When, if I finely graduate I will start a mercenary army to wipe out grim, make these creatures see us as a danger and come to us. We will not wait for them to arrive and then fight. My mindset is this is a war for survival, and you fight a war to win. You don't give your life, you make them give there's."

As Isaac talked Yang could see the other students spirits lifting, their nods and murmurs of approval she half expected to see them applaud as he finished.

Yang did laugh when it was his turn and he asked. "Ok, what do I do?"

* * *

Kind of a slice of life thing, but it ties up some points for world building and closer with Yang, which I think I could have done better.

Anywho. Thanks for reading, leave a comment, send an e-mail as it helps me improve giving better storytelling.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello. I wanted this one to flush out the world a bit more. Do some interaction with Tai, Ruby and Yang. How Isaac is starting up a SCP facility, and get a feel how racism would work in a bureaucratic system, who must, to a point do things by the book. When they have to.

* * *

**Outside the Box**

Yang and Isaac were exiting the medical building, the two shielding there eyes from the bright sun. Yang still smiling at the massive holes in Isaacs knowledge concerning aura when Rubys voice filled the air. "Sis! Sis! Over here!"

As the two groups walked towards each other Taiyang looked like he was breathing a sigh of relief. It was replaced by a need to know. "What happened? Who was hurt?"

"The instructor." Yang told him simply. "Six Behemoths attacked, three were trying to trample Isaac, so he tried to buy Isaac some time to get away, by getting in the way and was hurt doing it." She motioned with a thumb. "Our out of world guest here, didn't think they stood a chance and was allowing the behemoths to charge him so his teammates could attack from the sides."

Tai once over the surprise seemed to think it over before snapping his fingers. "Oh, the forever birthing mother, that's what you did, distracting them so your team could trap them." Isaacs eyebrows went up, slightly smiling he nodded his head. Seeing his daughters surprise Tai added. "It's a spider like creature that has babies constantly dropping off it, the strike team used Isaac with a few other D class as bait for the young while they neutralized the mother."

"I, hate spiders." Cringed Ruby. Isaac looked like he was about to say something but a scowl from Tai stopped him, instead he added. "That was a nasty one, did a lot of dodging and running." Ruby turned around heading for the car and Isaac put his hand up by his waist trying to indicate height. "Babies." He told Yang.

Yang looked somewhat revolted before shaking it off. "Ok, it's time to go home." She gave Tai a hug and headed for her bike.

Walking to the car Tai offhandedly asked. "Did you two bury the hatchet?" Isaac nodded. "I think. Still hard for me to tell." Once he stored the camping gear he added. "Would it be ok to take em out to the range tomorrow?"

"Not sure how I feel about you recruiting my daughters." Tai said scowling down at him.

Isaac shook his head. "Not happing, from what you've told me Yangs too independent and has anger and betrayal issues and Rubys too nice for a military like environment. This is just going to be opening their eyes a bit, give them a better chance to survive the grim." Shrugging slightly Tai could see the need and nodded. The drive home was mostly Ruby chattering away about this and that. Tai noted how Isaac was smiling every now and again.

The rest of the day was Isaac cleaning and stowing his gear, the others went about their business. Tai set up a weirdly configured sparing dummy for Yang to try out. The two arms were curved like it wanted to hug you, and the feet were bent oddly. "Start slow and work your way up, don't hit it too hard even when you get charged up." He cautioned.

Yang had taped up her fists for boxing setting Amber and Celica off to the side. Walking up to it Yang eyed it a bit, grabbing an arm and rotating it on the rope before saying in an off hand way. "So this is the undefeated dummy." She grinned as she stood back and smacked her knuckles against each other, taking up a stance. Her first blow landed on the left hip, the dummy swiveled on its rope. The right arm broadsided Yangs head. "What the?"

Tai was smiling, watching Yangs surprise as she took a step back. "It fights back." He needlessly told her. Yang gave it a playful half sneer and started to experiment with it, no matter what she did it would turn or swivel and some appendage would reach out enough to hit her. She started to block as she attacked, then used her legs as well as fists and worked up to an almost blur of motion as her hair slowly inflamed.

As time passed Ruby came out to watch, talking and chatting with her dad on what Yang was doing and what they were going to do tomorrow. It all ended when Yang yelled giving the dummy her all, as it tilted at a forty five degree angle before coming down on her spinning, hitting her twice. She blocked after the second hit landed which made it spin around the other way, a two punch combo and a leg kicking her hip. Yang staggered away from it stumbling. "And still undefeated." Tai said as Yang approached. He handed her a towel holding an extra just in case.

Yang looked insanely happy wiping her face as she spoke. "That was intense, I want one!" Finishing her face and arms Yangs breathing slowed, by the time she finished wiping the sweat off herself, her breath had caught up with her.

Tai chuckled pulling out his scroll. "I'll send you the specifications, you can build one to your liking. There's about four different configurations for this model, depending on what you want, this one is generalized for fighting hand to hand."

"I've never seen a sparing dummy like this." Yang said to them. "It didn't mater how fast I fought, it would keep up with me, and the harder I hit it the harder it hit." Yang told Tai as she helped take down the heavy sparing dummy and stow it in the shed. "Makes me wonder what we'll find at the rang tomorrow."

"Lots of stuff, some of it you're not going to believe." Tai told her with a smile. "The teams he's formed are combing their Lien. They own the property and have some construction going on. The range is off the island just north of the port city of Ménage. It's a small fishing village called Mavideniz but has the resources and terrain he wants to build a miniature SCP facility."

"Wait, what? Just how can kids own land?" Yang asked. "Everything would belong to the parents." Tai shrugged. "They have money. Lawyers. Isaac is an orphan, so it happened." Yang looked a bit stunned. "So, even though you're fostering him, he's independent? Or just going through you?"

"A bit of both, I think. The wordage is a bit hard to fallow, and if challenged ownership could change hands, but for now, if left alone this will work." Tai gave his daughters a shrug. "Besides, I have all I need right here." Then he hugged the two sighing just before letting them go. "Lets get dinner, we need to start early tomorrow, total air time coming and going will be about four hours."

**Mavideniz**

The port town was everything Ruby and Yang expected. Small, under populated, smelling of fish and sea, complete with some dirt roads in the town. The people here were fishers, farmers, loggers, and had a scattering of family run stores, boasting simple goods. They went to a building that looked like an aged wooden storage shed. Isaac pulled out an oversize'd key unlocking it, inside was there transport, an old station wagon with seating for ten. It would be just under half an hour of driving on packed dirt roads before they arrived.

"Welcome to the range or SCP containment facility 002" Isaac proudly boasted. What they saw were two storage warehouses for grain, a squared concert wall with a small building next to it, and a lot of poor soiled land. As he hoped out Isaac said with arms held out walking backwards so he could face them. "From humble beginnings comes greatness."

As he went to unlock the large warehouse door. Ruby leaned into Yang whispering what she was thinking. "He paid lien for this?" "Hope he kept the receipt." Yang whispered back.

As he pushed the door open the small group saw two odd vehicle's "This." Isaac motioned to the smaller one. "Is a self propelled four barreled 20mm anti aircraft gun with Doppler, laser, friend foe recognition and hooked to an independent proximity targeting system, I'm going to let each of you take a turn firing it. This." He indicated the much larger machine. "Is a forty five ton, what we called in my world, a tank, with one 144mm auto loader main gun two 50cal chain guns and one 40mm chain driven anti air." Ruby and Yang could only stare at it.

Huge would be a crass statement, it looked massively heavy just sitting there. Wide and high to the ground a turret on top that held an enormous cannon, wide tracks on each side enabled it to travel almost anywhere. Isaac patted it. "This puppy has over thirty two inches of rolled armor with twenty inches of ceramic, layered at five inches each. The side skirts to protect the tracks are twenty inches deep with two five inch's of ceramic. We combat tested it a few weeks ago when a grim wondered over the hills north east of here." He motioned them to come around to the side.

"What in the dark?" Tai exclaimed. "When you told me you had a live fire test, that it was a huge grim, I thought it was a behemoth class not a colossus."

The side was partly melted, some of the steel had run down the side like a melted candle, exposing the ceramic beneath. Isaac patted the melted side. "Energy grim, hit the tank twice, one round of APCS and one of APHE took it down." He leaned back slightly impressed with his next words. "Normally five is needed to run this, but the two watchers here were able to pull it off."

"Dad." Ruby mewed. "Your right, this is kind of unbelievable. Grim like that, they destroy towns. Teams of hunters are needed to take them down." Isaac grinned yet kept quiet as he boarded the AA truck and started it up. "Lets go to the range." Isaac tossed up a seat booster then put blocks off wood on the peddles.

"How did you get this going so fast?" Yang asked settling down in the back seat. "That tank, as you called it would take years to build."

As they pulled out of the building Isaac questioned right back. "Your people here have solid light, right? You can mold it, that's extremely high technology, hell the scrolls you use fold out and become rigid, military here use solid light as shields." Ruby looked puzzled asking. "Hell?" Yang shrugged seeing he was not, or didn't hear her. "Must be a cuss word." She offered as Isaac droned on.

"Using a three dimensional industrial printer, the kind used to make bridges and roadways, homes ect made assembling it easy. The hardest part was programming the printer. With materials it can knock one of those out once every five months. It cost over thirty million to make it, so there not cheep. Once we get our own printers, and the iron mine up and running." He pointed to a set of hills east of the town. "And a refinery, the cost and time to build will go down a lot. We'll have steal we can export and a little dust from an abandoned mine two miles east of here, also I cut a deal with Ironwood, traded for information, we should be getting two broken printers soon, we'll use one to repair the other, then fix the second one as, when we can. That said the next tank should be about twenty million, or less."

"A leviathan would almost make that lien back in one go." Yang pointed out.

"Not really. It's more of a titan or colossus." Isaac countered as they turned heading for a modest firing range doted with shaped hills, debris and targets. "Been hitting the bounties pretty hard lately, this latest one is over one hundred million, so there not paying as much, and these shells cost over 50K each. The fuel even more. That's another thing, alternate fuel is needed. The repairs are estimated at over two hundred thousand lien." He did a U turn so the back of the truck was facing the range. Hit a switch and the sides of the bed of the truck folded down while stabilizing legs came out almost lifting the truck.

"One of the guys suggested we call ourselves Grimm's Bane. Our main targets, once we get three more tanks, five armored carriers, and five AA guns will be the massive hordes of grim, taking those out will gain a lot of coin, but that's for a later time, for now. Lets give you a short safety tutorial and instructions on loading. But before that." Going over to a box and pulled out and raise a red flag on a tall flagstaff. "To let everyone know live rounds are being used." He explained.

Yang went first, they had loaded up the long rounds into a belt fed hopper that had gears in it for moving the rounds into the firing chamber. The whole mechanism was brutally simplistic on how it worked. They were all wearing helmets with microphones, a battery powered transmitter belted to the hip, ear plugs and ear muffs cut out the world almost completely. Her target was a dot on a cliff miles away.

Pressing her shoulders into a C shaped clamp which controlled the movement of the gun, Yang grasp the two gun handles finding she could move it any way she wanted but down at the ground. The range finder gave her the distance compensating for ark and wind, and she zoomed in. Isaac let her know the safety was off and to fire when ready. Yang grinned and pulled the triggers.

The noise was deafening. Dust was thrown up around the back of the vehicle by the concussion waves. The eight rounds all but vanished in that one pull of the trigger. Yang looked up, and a second later the explosive rounds hit the cliff. Three seconds from that the explosions were heard. "That's a thing! If that were a grim it would be toast!" She yelled. Isaac was grinning like a mad man almost yelling. "This will knock a fully grown nevermore out of the air at two to five miles."

They reloaded for Ruby, a standing pad raised up for her and she tried something different she strafed from left to right each overlapping explosion eating away at the rock cliff face. She looked stunned. "How are adults allowing you to use this stuff?" She asked watching a small land slide of shattered stone fall to the base of the cliff.

Tai seemed upset when he inform his daughter. "Hunters pretty much have free rain when it comes to weapons, you need to study the laws a bit harder, you should know this by now." Then he sighed, remembering. "To be fair you did get bumped up two years." His frustration all but vanished before he smiled kindly to her. "It must be hard catching up like that just to be even with everyone." Ruby nodded a bit frustrated. Everyone kept saying she was so cool to get advanced yet forgot she had been advanced just on her fighting ability she needed to close the knowledge gap, and quickly.

Tai was offered his turn and declined. Isaac didn't care for it so they packed up, cleaning each barrel and firing chamber making sure the gearing system was maintained and cleaning up the almost arm long shells. When done Isaac pulled down and stowed the red flag. Then drove them to the containment grounds.

"Ok, I'm impressed." Yang said flatly. The containment grounds held grim, enclosed behind four twenty foot tall concrete walls. Beowolves were squeezed into heavy steel cages with hardly enough room to move. A death stockier was chained down with blocks of concrete pinning its tail, body and punchers a simple crane next to it. A nevermore without wings was almost crushed, encased in it's armored cage it's beak almost completely covered in straps, the surprise was a behemoth. Concrete had been pored around the feet up to the belly, the tusks were embedded in concrete even the snout, chain thick enough to tow a large ship out of the water held the body in six places, other then shifting a bit only it's ears flapped. They had all been de fanged or nails clipped, even the behemoths back spikes were removed replaced with plastic road markers.

"Ok, I have to know." Yang asked confused. "Just how did you catch a Behemoth?"

"Dug a pit, pored concrete covered it in light branches and let it drop into it. We can't catch em all. Some grim are too dangerous to contain, so we eliminate them on sight. We keep the records in that classroom over there." Isaac explained. "Lets start with the elephant. Or as I like to call it SCP 005"

"Dad?" Ruby asked unsure. Tai nodded putting an arm around her. "It's ok, I've been here, a lot, making sure none of these things get loose. There's also two people on site who keep a eye on things. The walls, grounds, and inside's of the cages are armed with explosives. If anything happens to a cage it detonates, or if more then one, it all goes boom."

"Does the town even know about this?" Ruby asked. Tai nodded. "Yep, they get free protection from Grimms Bane, so they put up with it. The tows been wiped out a few times, but the lien they make from fishing is good so they keep coming back, rebuilding."

Isaac had dragged a chain with a blunt hook to the massive grim and latched it to the ear and using a pulley, the kind you find on off road vehicles pulled the ear open. "This is one of the week points." He told them putting almost his entire arm into the ear canal. Yangs shotguns would work well here, one, maybe two standard rounds, and it's dead." They all had a good look as the grim shifted in its restraints. Ruby even testing out the long arm of her scythe on it. Isaac cleared them away and released the ear. "Ok, go ahead and take a turn getting under the ear and to the canal, get a feel on how hard it is." This took up some time to learn, Behemoths are surprisingly strong.

Then he hopped onto it's back. "See what it's doing with these bone spurs? I've seen various grim with this configuration. You get in there and it can crush you by flexing it's back, also there sensitive, they can feel it when you grab one, say for balance, so don't." He made a motion for them to get up with him by the neck then started in detail. "Here, and here are week points, shotguns don't work well but Ruby's gun using armor piercing, or her scythe in a deep stab would, if you've got fire dust that will burn for a while shoot here." He pointed between two dimples the size of a hand on each side of the spinal. "It will drop in about ten seconds, enough time for it to kill you if you're not careful. Last is the eye's, a high powered slug about twelve gage or above will work, but nothing less."

Getting down Isaac let them think about it for a bit, taking a break with some chocolate to calm them all before showing them a clip of a charging behemoth. "See the way it's moving the head? Flopping back and forth and the trunk? They can't see straight ahead so they move the head when charging, if your in front of them. Looks fierce but there just trying to see you, so keep in the blind spot front and back if you can." He put away the scroll adding. "When they do that they can't see to the sides, there concentrating on what's in front of them. You can blind side them really easy that way. Just watch out for its friends, they always travel in herds."

Taking out a knife he poked at the shoulder bone plates. "See the way the bone plates close? It's pure reaction." He made a motion with his hand stopping short of slapping the shoulder. "They close faster then a bullet reacting to compressed air, so hitting any part of the front or front/side, you better have something like that tank. There attack is to charge at someone, overwhelming with pure mass. There the front line shock troops and siege engines."

Leading them to the back he had them put a hand on the area just before the rear legs. "Feel how soft it is? You can push it in with your hand, the ribs are here and the two smaller ribs are here, stab at a forty five degree angel to the body, with the blade at ten or so degrees and it's dead, we did an MRI on it, but found nothing to explain why 005 drops so fast, anywho if you can, use ice or electric dust, fire does almost nothing, to much liquid."

They spent several hours going over the captured grim in the compound. Isaac pointing out weak points that seemed to be scattered all over each grim. After they took a breather in a building outside the enclosure. Sitting, drinking and generally resting. Isaac gave them a written test to see how much they retained.

At three in the afternoon they were back in town and had parked and locked up, waiting at the air pad for their flight home. Tai buying some overpriced ice cream for them. Yang almost laughing at Isaac enthusiastically licking the cone he had. To her he was acting like a kid, for about two minutes.

The flight back Yang looked over the data that Isaac had downloaded, watching some recordings of grim fights before looking out the window and loosing herself in thought. Mostly wondering why she and others hadn't been taught this in school. Professor perv had used a Borbatusk in class, yet that was the only grim she had seen used in a live demonstration. The rest of the time it was hearing him spout off, in a long winded way how to identify grim and how they worked, not how to kill them. With one more day to go she wondered what other ideas Isaac had. The thought of fighting swarms of grim in those no fly or travel zones was almost ridiculous, yet that's what he planed to do.

"This is a war." Yang heard Isaac say. "In a war you fight to win, you make them die, if close you make them die faster then your side." She turned and faced Isaac, seeing the almost adult look on his young face as he watched her. Yang could only nod. He took grim seriously, wanting to kill them in the most effective way possible, to wipe them out was his goal here. In this world. She half believed he could, from a world that seemed constantly attacked by creatures. Or she wondered were they just desperate? They used prisoners as bate, experimental subjects and just fodder when the time called for it.

Yang wondered just how long he would live. "The person is not important, the mission or objective is." Isaac told Yang. Yang looked at him a bit shocked. "Your expression." He explained. "A lot of adults give me that same look, they wonder when the grim will end me. It does not mater when. Or how. Just that the war be won."

"Your insane." Yang told him. Reflecting what a student had said in the hospital. "But in a good way." She did laugh as Isaac hunkered down almost looking like he was pouting. Yang shook her head slowly in amazement, realizing he probably heard that a lot in school, maybe even was teased about it.

The day had been long, filled with excitement and long periods of monotony, there dinner a filling one, Yang and Ruby found themselves tired and turned in for the night.

At three in the morning Yang woke up with the sound of someone taking a shower. Focusing on the clock she growled and half rolled over. "You can't be getting up this early." She moaned. With a tug she freed herself from the blankets and stood. After stretching she headed for the hallway determined to give who ever it was, she assumed Isaac, a peace of her mind.

Once in the hallway she heard her father walking up the steps. "Sorry sunshine. I hoped he wouldn't have one of these until after you left." Yangs confused look said it all as Tai passed her then scooped up a pajama bottom from the floor. Water stained the wood as Tai went into Isaacs room. Yang fallowing.

Tai flipped the PJ's onto that rope stretched across the room then picked up the tops, hanging them from the line. Yang could see the unmade bead. There was a large water stain on it. "Did he have a semblance discharge?" She asked.

Tai turned and yanked the sheets from the bed, Yang could hear the sound of plastic, the mattress was covered in a plastic sheath. "Night terrors." He said simply clipping the sheet to the line. Gathering a rag to wipe down the bead. "He gets them, two to three times a week."

"That's sweat?" Yang asked befuddled. "That's a lot." Tai nodded, his face turning hard. "Too much time being a scout, the target, and the ginnipig in his old world." He reminded her. "He's never screamed, or thrashed in bed, he just wakes up, some kind of conditioning they give the D class who don't take the amnesiac rout."

Yang didn't have any words, she half covered her mouth whispering. "Sometimes I think he's lying, he takes things so lightly, but then, like that tank, the grim, now this, it kind of hits home. He's not from our world. He's from one that's a nightmare." Tai nodded having finished wiping down the mattress, cleaning his hands, he stood then ruffled the top of her head. "Don't worry about it Sunshine. Nothing anyone can do, so we move on. Isaacs said more then once he feels fortunate to have a chance to live another life, to start fresh."

They heard the shower stop. Tai finished up as Yang watched, she half felt she should scuttle back to her room, avoid him. Then a part of her held her ground, stubbornly.

Bare feet taped on the wooden floor as Isaac entered his room head down a wrapped towel about his waist. "Sorry about that.." He started in apology, then saw Yang and blushed almost down to his toes. Yang would have laughed if it wasn't for all the scars on him, she could almost see the bite that made the half circle on his shoulder or what ever made the neat round scars in a line on the left upper arm. The rakes and hand like claw prints, the vertical slashes on the legs as if he tore himself out or was pulled out of something's jaws.

"Still digging on the scars." She told him. Tai made a noise, a half gasp and started pushing her out of the room. "Ok, enough of that." He scolded. They didn't see Isaacs half smile as he whispered. "All earned."

They settled down going back to bed Yang waking up late, well Ruby waking her up. Her nasal voice cutting the tranquil half sleep she was in. "Yang,,, it's almost ten, breakfast is cccold." Yang plodded through the morning waking routine, her head slushy refusing to fully awaken until coffee.

Ruby was playing a game on the 3D when Yang finished eating brunch. "Dad? Where'd Isaac get off to?" Tai gave her a raised eyebrow. "Not like that, common dad give me some credit." Rubys voice drifted into the room. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing." They each chimed as one. Yang had taken her dishes to the sink and started washing them. "Well, this got accord." She half grinned. Tai groaned.

"If you must know." Tai said leaning onto the counter. "He's at the pond doing something called Tao by a guy called Lao Tsu. It's a kind of mental dance." He explained.

"I gota see that." Yang quickly finished up then headed out the door a huge grin on her face. Tai half way fallowed her out the door leaning on the frame. "That's my sunny dragon. Good to have you back." He told the wind. He frowned or was it Ti Te? Chi? He thought.

Yang saw the pond way before she saw Isaac. The water was in the air, floating and swirling in different shapes, coming together in a glob then a stream would come out forming a new one. Yang finely saw him and he was doing a kind of slow dance the water mimicking his movements in a liquid kind of way. She knew he had seen her by the smile forming on his face.

"Hi." A deep voice said. Yang froze in place. That voice had sounded all around her. "Sorry, couldn't resist messing with you. I'm using the water in the air to talk by vibrating it like a human voice, give me a bit, I can't just set all this water down hard, it'll kill the frogs and fish." Yang with her game face on almost marched to the pond.

He wasn't kidding Yang noted easily five acres of water was floating in the air. She kept quiet until it had all settled. Then placed a hand on his chest and with a wrist flick flung him backwards into the pond. He came quickly to the surface. "What'd ya do that for?!" He sputtered at her.

"Ah, just messing with you, don't be angry, it was just in fun." Yang explained. "Game on." He said floating to the surface and walking across the water. Yang smiled and used her shotguns to gain some distance as Isaac shook the water off himself like a dog. Yang leaned on a tree her expression and body language saying you loose. Isaac pointed up. Yang looked and saw a huge droplet of water coming down on her.

Ruby shot across the distance grabbing Yang, and in a flurry of red and gold landed next to Isaac. Yang gave him another push. This time he slid across the water as if it was ice.

Hands poised as if digging into something the water on each side of him rose up. "Ice?" Suggested Yang. Ruby nodded and started to reload.

Isaac stopped looked down then surprised Yang and Ruby with his next words. "Oh, sorry, no really I am sorry, got caught up in the moment." The sisters glanced at each other then Ruby gaped and pointed. Small fish and frogs were hopping and jumping just in front of Isaac and he seemed. "He's talking to fish?" Asked Ruby.

Isaac seemed to let the water go and moved to the shore a bit down and away from Yang. "Keep forgetting if I get rough with the water, they die from my actions." He explained to them.

"Oh, that is so cool!" Squealed Ruby. Yang was rubbing her head wondering if this was real. "You can talk to them? Fish? Frogs?"

"Don't be silly, that's something only Indians from the north Americas can do, it did make you hesitate." Then he pointed up. Yang didn't look up her expression was of disquiet miffed and begrudging surrender. Ruby made a squeaky noise as the water came down.

The wave reformed into a tube and swirled around them then moved to the side and reformed into a watery sculpture of there upper bodies mimicking there facial expressions. The Yang one sticking its tongue out at Yang. Ruby fired her ice dust freezing the two into statues. "This is so cool!" She exclaimed again. Then looked closer at her image. "My nose isn't that big, is it?"

Isaac actually smiled. "No, I don't have that kind of control over liquid, yet." He reminded them. "Seemed pretty intense to me. You had half the pond in the air, and moving around." Yang told him. "That's a lot of weight." She added.

Isaac nodded. "Taken all semester to get this far, still have a long ways to go." He told them. When he saw there doubtful looks he had to smile. "Seems with aura and semblances the only limitations are what we place on them." He raised an arm motioning with a hand. Isaacs sword, belt and shoulder bag came flying from where they rested by a tree. "Put a little water into something and it can be manipulated."

He watched the two for a bit before adding. "I can't wait for the day Ruby brakes the sound barrier, or you Yang, punching a hole in a mountain. And before you say you can't remember this, all the things the adults are telling me I can't or shouldn't be able to do. The limitations are yours and yours alone, aura has I found no upper limit. You stop growing when you decide you've reached your boundaries."

"End of class?" Yang asked a snarky smile on her face. She laughed when Isaac gave a slight nod of his head. "So what's this Tao De dad talked about?"

"A mental discipline of the mind, of the spiritual or the undying part of us. Here in this place, I'm not sure but I think it's this aura you're all talking about. The dance or movement is Tie Chi, or as I like to think, learning how to move now so you can when you get older. Also for some, a cleansing, and it's a bit dangerous here, sending the negative part of yourself loose on the world."

"I've seen emotion come to life, seen it take and inflict harm, no I'm not joking." He sighed frustrated seeing there confused looks and decided to change the subject. "That small building attached to the main grain silo, is our lab, we kill and examine grim in there, even dissect them, alive. Then filter the air, trying to capture, anything." He made a shrugging motion. "Had to do something, no one here seems to have thought about it. I think if we can learn about what holds them together or makes up their flesh they can be killed more effectively."

"That makes sense." Quipped Ruby. Then she looked concerned. "Isaac you were a prisoner, how did you learn so much?"

"The scientists, mostly. They wanted me to be able to describe and make judgments on what I was seeing in the different worlds I was sent to, to be able to identify what was important to bring back, or what to leave, to do that I needed to know, um.. understand what I was seeing and talking about, so I was almost continuously in school, it was that and physical development."

"Why didn't they just watch, with cameras?" Yang asked. Isaac nodded to the practical Yangster. "Sometimes the feed is different from what is there, interference an occur and, well damage to the suit also happens."

Ruby nodded. "Ya, ok, makes sense, but why are you so tall for an eight year old." Yang blinked wanting to know also. Isaac shrugged. "I'll be six foot six and a half when I finish growing."

"Your eight?" Questioned Yang again, wanting to be absolutely sure. Isaac nodded. "Oh." Then Yang started laughing. "Soo Goodwitch is in for a surprise."

"Well, I guess it's time to go back in, Tai will start to worry if were out to long." Isaac said then started to concentrate.

"So. Trying to be the adult, again?" Yang asked. Isaac smiled. "If you think so." With a wave of the arm water left the pond and formed a twisting banked toboggan ride like form. "If you would Ruby."

"All right!" Ruby chimed her game face coming on. Shooting four rounds of ice dust at the formation of water. As it froze she zipped off. "Last one home does dishes!" Then she was gone. A red streak flying the twisting slide. Isaac started running. "Nuts." He cursed hearing shotgun blasts and a yellow brown streak flew past, landing on the slide, two more blasts and she like Ruby was gone. "I have got to think this through before I try to play a game. Isaac thought. A pistol and a forty mm does not work well with ice. "Wait, I'm over seventy percent water." He thought giving himself a hard push. Feeling his body slide forward.

It was like being on a motor bike titling around curves at high speed, some of the tighter turns it seemed as if you were standing still and the world was rotating around you. He still ended up tens of seconds behind Yang even more behind Ruby. Breathless he came to a stop before Tai.

"So? Dishes?" He asked in a way that said this has happened before. "Nuts." Was all Isaac could say. "That was fun." Yang said from the house. Ruby happily squealing So Cool made him smile. Turning he pushed the ice back to the pond letting it melt upstream.

There last day found the two packed and ready to go by midday. Isaac noted it was quiet as they headed for the airport, he stood to the side, Ruby and Yang saying unhappily goodbyes to Tai, they were almost crying he noted. Ruby gave Isaac a hug and Yang gave him a two fingered salute. "See ya D man." He thumped a hand on his chest. "Uspue ad Occasum." He called out smiling at her confusion. "Until the sun sets." Her what does that mean look made his day.

When Tai towered over Isaac he added. "Well it was better then saying Aloha. Which is a hello and goodbye greeting. "Your writing down that language." Tai told him. Sighing Isaac countered. "I haven't finished Chinese yet." Once in the car Tai said smiling. "After dishes." He watched Isaac thump his head on the seat cushion grumbling.

School break ended and to Isaac things seemed normal until at the end of the week. He was called into the principals office. He had a good idea what was going to happen. The field trip teacher was there, two others who by there stiff posture were part of the school board and the principal. He was directed to sit at a char between the two stiff men.

"Well, I won't waste any time as we all have things to do." The principal started. Isaac half smiled it was the end of the week at the end of the day. He couldn't help but think the man just wanted to rune his weekend by declaring they had things to do. It kind of angered him. These mafia tactics.

"May I see the discharge papers." He asked as calmly as he could. Again he felt the half smile tugging at his face as the principal looked mildly startled before glancing at the two standing suites. With motions slow enough to be annoying he opened a drawer on his desk and pulled out a thick folder. Opened it and began reading. _"Two can play at this."_ Isaac thought. This had intimidate the boy so he won't fight back or be too ashamed to written all over it.

He pulled out his phone and called his lawyer. "Just what do you think your doing?" Asked his field trip instructor. "Calling my lawyer, this is not going to be a simple bury the problem child and forget, your jobs, your integrity will be on the line if you continue your actions, at the least your going to be making the news. After all your actions here will officially start Grimms Bane." It was enough to out right stun them. One of the suits made a suggestion that Tai be brought in.

With a quick explanation given he put the phone on speaker laying it on the desk. The principal was informed the conversation was being recorded and asked to state his full name. The man was no slouch, he knew his position quit well, refusing to acknowledge the lawyer or his interference on how this school operates.

Isaac explained in detail the intimidation tactics they were employing, having no intention of calling in his guardian, yet now they had. To do things by the book. Giving his opinion that this was based on race and not capabilities. "Your actions injured your instructor. You showed no regard for personal safety and all but forced him to put his life on the line, for your reckless actions." The principal almost screamed.

The lawyer barely paused. "Yet this group of students have dispatched Behemoths before, seems they know what there doing, there total kill count is over fifty for these large grim." Countered the Lawyer. This instructor was inserted. Despite objections from students and the previous instructor. Twelve students have officially complained to the hunters board. Would you tell me why?"

The knock at the door was fallowed by Tai entering, one glance and he stiffened up. Isaac jumped in. "Hi." He made a hand motions to the one on the left. "Met intimidator one, who has only glared at me." A another motion to the right. "Met intimidator two, who also has only glared quietly at me. The instructor who jumped out in front of me trying to go head to head with Behemoths. The principal need's no introduction." He then pointed at the phone. "And my lawyer who for some reason seems to know this was going to happen." Isaac left his char. One suit didn't move blocking his path until Isaac asked. "Will you move so I can get to my guardian? Or am I suppose to timidly slide around you?"

"Enough." The principal demanded. "I will not see this school turned into a circus by some." He bit back his words and pulled out a form. "These are your expulsion papers, sign and we can get on with our lives.."

"I do not agree to sign. Guess its suspension time, and the courts, and the meeting's, the media, and all that good stuff." Tai gave Isaac a nudge. "Despite you being right your heaping a lot of disrespect out there."

Isaac folded his arms all but glaring at them all. "Grimm wipe out towns, villages, two to three a year, tens of thousands die on a bad year, aircraft have a one in eighty chance of making there flight outside patrolled paths and none in the no fly zones. Trains are routinely derailed, so much that there made to run on just two of the sixteen tracks laid and you want me to respect someone who will not allow me hunt these Grimm? Just for my ears?" Tai went quiet sighing in a way that showed he couldn't argue.

The phone spoke up. "This is turning into quite the interesting lawsuit. I wish an answer, will you drop the expulsion charges or suspend Isaac until a formal inquiry can be scheduled?" The principal reached into the folder an pulled out a suspension paper laying that on the desk. "Sign." He said curtly.

Isaac smiled openly not even bothering to approach the desk. "So, all filled out and signed by the management, you sure do think ahead." Isaac locked eyes with the principal. "I refuse, on the grounds that all gathered here for this event are practicing Speciesism, that my instructor was hand picked despite objections for the sole purpose of allowing events to accrue to dismiss me form this school. The reasons beyond race is I believe that I am a protégé I know things even my teachers can't comprehend, I understand how to kill off the grim, in mass. My belief is those present here dislike faunas, I also feel they think I will make them appear incompetent or their jobs will become obsolete in there lifetimes. After all, what good is a hunters school without grim to hunt?" He felt Tai pat him on the shoulder then tell him to wait outside.

They were in so long Isaac actually went to sleep on the chair. When Tai awakened him it was two hours past school closer. Tai returned Isaacs scroll looking angry. It was a quiet ride home. He didn't push it having this kind of stunt shoved down his throat must have been hard for him. Isaac felt they were so determined that Tai's job may be on the line should he not cooperate.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment or e-mail it helps, a lot. The next captor will be jumping to the weekend.


	5. Chapter 5

Small interaction with Tai. A bit of snarky with Yang and Ruby on Weiss and Blake. More world building. Dealing with racism. Becoming a hunter. Starting SCP site 002. Still. More wold building. Hunting massive amounts of grim. First contract. Lots and lots of explosions. Rated T: For reasons.

A bit long in the tooth, could have been two story's, but this seemed right.

* * *

Some people are just Asshats including the hero's.

The day, sunny and warm with enough clouds and a slight breeze to keep things cool Tai approached Isaac who this weekend was fishing by the docks, without a word he sat down. Isaac held up the days catch, four medium size rainbow striped fish. Tai half smiled. "Those will cook up well." Then Tai looked outward across the ocean. Isaac looked at him hard, sighing before casting into the sea.

"Not going so well?" Tai nodded. "So." Isaac began. "When's the media circus going to start?" Tai shook his head slowly. Isaac nodded. "A gag order? Let me guess you loose your job or be bumped down to cleaning toilets?" The older man shifted hanging one leg over the docks edge. Isaacs face tightened in thought before he spoke.

"Ok, the best thing I can do for us is to challenge my classes, to prove I do not need to go to school, this was a good exercise in stabilizing me into your society, but that's over, about the only thing I'm weak on is history and dust. Is that a part of the normal schooling?" Tai looked over watching him cast again. Not waiting for an answer Isaac forged on.

"I and you need to facilitate the gifted child angle, so far the Wizard of Oz doesn't want that kind of lime light on me, well sorry, but I'm not going to see you suffer or have your daughter's put up with the media feeding frenzy this school is going to kick up. Standard terror tactics, intimidate, divide, silence and engulf." Winding up the string and putting the tackle away Isaac stood gathering his catch.

"If this school leader wants a fight of perception and integrity, I'll give him a fight he will never forget." Tai half smiled standing. "It's not going to be easy. People once this starts going will need to know where you came from, why your so scarred, and why a young child knows so much."

"Easy." Isaac lightly responded. "First I've not shown fully what I know or can do. Few know about site 002 other then it's where I've trained some students, and that's not a part of the expulsion lawsuit the principal is going for. Second, we can say I was taken and experimented on, I escaped in the clothing I could scavenge from my oppressors. Not sure, but if they want I will allow independent doctors to examine me, they will find me human, the experiments have slightly changed my DNA, yet I'm looking like a faunas. We don't need history, just a cause."

After a moment Isaac asked. "You do have people with semblances that can mold flesh?" Tai shrugged not knowing. "Well ya do now." Isaac half chucked to himself. "Out there somewhere over the rainbow, there are gays." He started laughing.

Tai could only wonder at what and how this would go. So he gave his best guess. "Signal Academy is sure going to be getting a wake up call. The head master will be besides himself if not outright outraged, your trying to paint him as a raciest and a uncaring human only interested in the surface of what he sees." Isaac nodded to Tai adding his two cents.

"Ozpin is going to hate this, and Ironwood may get into some trouble if someone traces those printers to him, but I have an idea that may get him out of it. I used what I know about the scanners he bought to make a new one, we have a good handle on how to scan for grim, it lights them up like fuzzy magnetic lines, but there clear even when in foliage or trees, not sure about water, or underground, it's still in the guts of wire scattered all over the shop stage, but it works. That will be the reason, if it ever comes up, a joint project between Atlas and Beacon academy, to be able to find hidden grim at a distance."

Tai made a none committal shrug. "Ozpin may not approve of this." Isaac shook his head. "He has no say in this matter, this is your life and mine, this will effect Ruby and Yangs schooling, hiding or using miss direction is a fine hobby to pass the time, but when it gets serious you have to let everything out into the light. He, you, and I can't hid this, not now."

Isaac sighed staring out across the water. "The SCP did that, for we found about a thousand years, hid it all in the dark. Then things hit the fan, no one was prepared for it. Billions lost their lives to creatures we didn't even know could exist. Our civilization collapsed. As we recovered over the next hundred years, people, cities, and nations relied more and more on the SCP to protect, train, and mostly to warn people when something nasty was headed there way."

He made a snorting noise as they walked away from the pier. "I remember once, when I was young, we were told over the towns emergency system to cover our eyes and mouth and sit, be still no mater what we heard or felt. What ever they were, it was a lot, things brushed past us, for what felt like a small chunk of eternity, and kept going, then just as quickly were gone." He made another snorting noise of disgust. "The news bragged about our readiness. How quickly we reacted to a threat, how in a town of seven thousand only seventy or so of us went missing." Tai stopped for a moment staring at Isaac then resumed walking. He wondered why he wasn't numb to these stories. The more he heard the more he felt Isaac was normal for his environment.

They spent the rest of the weekend gathering what was needed. The paperwork was not large, nor small, but it was detailed. By the start of the school week Isaac was ready for the first of a long list of questions and tests to pass, then the next, and the next. By the middle of the week he had risen above that of a fourteen year old. Today however he needed to spend in the school board system. He had refused to sign and the regional board wanted to know why.

Isaac stood alone. The Signal academy had a professor absent and Tai was the one to fill in the vacancy, the administration refused to reschedule. As he spoke the administration kept interrupting, they wanted clarification on his statements, warning time and again his report was being recorded and he should use his words carefully. Towards the middle of his testimony he asked if the investigating board had in they're past so many interruptions, or even such a blatant attempts to confuse, and intimidate a student. Asking for the Signal administrators to save their questions until his statement was completed.

He was chastised by both sides. Isaac could only endure the abuse. Waiting quietly for them to finish was like taking too long in a sauna. Once testimony was completed Isaac asked for clarification on a list of questions he had written down. Feeling toward the end a sense of satisfaction. Most on their confusion, how they would riffle through their written statements, then spend the time to clarify. The ones presiding over this investigation were he knew becoming more interested. To them Isaac was not behaving as one his age should. The barrage of questions, interruptions and mild scolding did not phys him much beyond irritation. More then once the board had asked where he learned this, or that.

He didn't need to lie much. Working the captured experiment angle, hours of learning, combat training with instructors who would give you a good scar just as a reminder to become better. His descriptions on some of his missions were mistaken as grim hunts. The grim varied, taking many different forms in this world. At the end, as the board tried to wind the session down. His bombshell arrived. A courier came in.

Isaac signed for the documents explaining as he did that this was evidence in his argument against expulsion. "I am human." He stated simply. He waited for the noise and warning's to treat this event with the respect it deserved to wind down. Standing Isaac handed the document to the board. "A semblance user who could alter mater started to change me, almost achieving his goal until a containment crew subdued him. These papers will prove it. I can also allow testing by a medical facility of your preference."

The principal was adamant that Isaacs race was not an issue. Isaacs continued endangerment of students was. Isaac nodded correcting, him saying that would be something for the courts to decide. His past actions will be brought into the light. This interview was merely to inform the board of intent. Win or loose he knew he would never go back to that school. The medical documents were not admitted as evidence and returned. Isaac was informed that the board would take a few days then make their decision. Gathering his paperwork Isaac left without looking at them or saying a word.

Outside a small group of news gathers were waiting. Isaac found he's hunting mates had informed the media and hired investigators. He had to keep telling them he could not make a statement as the principal had threatened his guardian with reprisals should he make any account to the public. Isaac knew the shit storm was going to start because of his words but decided to play the rattled kid angle to the press. Saying something to the effect he wished his guarding could have been present while he faced the adults. They all but mobbed the principle and professor when they came out. Some of the political comics posted after were pretty funny, and damning.

Before Tai returned home. Ozpin called wanting details from Isaac, seemed his statement had already been broadcast on the news and this event was turning into a faunas human conflict. It was a short conversation as the facts were pretty cut and dry in content. Ozpins concerned warning landed on unsympathetic ears. Isaac considered Tais and his children's future more important then secrecy.

The next day Isaac concentrated on challenging his classes. His goal was to reach a graduation level of a 17 year old. That was the minimum for a hunters license. He was thankful for all the electronic data. The test and results came back within an hour of sending them in.

Finely finished he left the government building where he had taken the tests, heading for the Hunters guild. Spending the rest of the day there, showing his capabilities and knowledge hunting grim. The stress of trying to finish was weighing heavily on him, enough that the reviewer suggested he wait for tomorrow, get some rest.

Isaac shook his head explaining the Signal school board would be formally kicking him out of the academy that day. He needed to get this done today. "This will be my last chance to be registered as a hunter, after tomorrow from what others have said, it's done, over." Isaac sincerely told them, explaining what was happing with as much detail as he dared trying to keep Tai out of trouble. They let him finish the tests, telling him once the scores were in.

"Well, the courses were done to a passing degree, but then your still pretty young. If you pass the combat test you'll be the youngest hunter in recorded history. Sorry but the guild rules say we record this part, we have to try and take you down and you have to try and take us down." This was a part of the schooling Isaac never understood, fighting people, not grim. They entered an arena like structure, a simple circle with walls.

Three hunters formed a triangle around him. When the cameras started recording Salish formally spoke. "We don't expect you to defeat us, this is to see how well you can fight, there are minimal standards you must overcome." Sighing Isaac took a stance. "What if I could immobilize you all, would I pass?"

"There have been a few with semblances that can do that, so no." She answered quickly. "Ready?" Isaac sighed then tied a strip of cloth around his head, covering the eyes. Pulled his sword and took a stance. "Ready." He told them. He lasted twenty seconds managing to land only two hits before his aura shattered.

Wedging himself up to his feet Isaac pulled the blindfold off disappointed in himself. The woman seemed to be laughing quietly. "You passed." One of them said. Isaac blinked an are you kidding plastered on his face. This made the group chuckle. "Youth, there all the same." She told him putting away her weapon.

"You think your high on the food chain. Compared to the untrained you are, but we've been doing this for decades. You never stood a chance." She told him, then sighed looking at him a frown furrowing her face. "It's a shame, really, if what you said is true. Tomorrow you'll be formally banned, this will not cancel your license, but you will never refine what you already know beyond home schooling. There's going to be a lot of upper academies angry about this."

"We can issue you a hunters card. You won't be a fully certified hunter so a lot of perks will simply not be there. The reader boards will be limited on what you can take, but you can still legally collect bounty for a hunt." One of them assured Isaac. He didn't know who spoke he was still riding on the high of passing the last test in a long miserable week. He felt himself relaxing, unwinding like he had survived a hazardous mission on his old world.

His card was made from a strange laser etched hard light. It could, he was told, not be forged. The computer in it stayed charged by the body's electrical field. His exploits and missions would be recorded on it. The rest was permanent. He took the ID handing the cool edges reading the data they put on it. He felt strange seeing his face on the holographic card. It wasn't until someone said here. Handing him a rag. He looked up feeling tears sliding down his face. Taking the rag he wiped finding no matter what he did that feeling just kept growing until it became somewhat hard to take a lungful of air. It took a while before he could give his thanks and head for the door.

Leaving the hunters board Isaac calmed down a bit more. His mind quickly seeing a lot of possibilities on how and which way this would go, come tomorrow the real shit storm would start. He was in survival mode by the time he crossed the street heading for the transport system. Tai is going to love and dread this he knew.

"Hay, Salish, he's gone, stop looking out the window." She sighed leaning back to face those who gathered around a table. "I still can't believe this is even happing." Obsidiou nodded his head. "Ya, that kit has brought in more big bounties in the last eight months then most bring in years." He leaned heavily into the table before he continued. "Hay Samovar? How's the ribs?"

"So the school board rigs up an event just so they can kick him out?" The last asked as he pulled out a chair and gently sat down before letting Obsidiou in on how he felt. "Healing, he kicked like an angry mule. Just glad he didn't hit me with that hypodermic needle he calls a sword." The man sighed turning to the others. "Didn't expect him to use his semblance to move his own body."

Obsidiou nodded. "That's why the blindfold, he was sensing liquid, guess it was like three sixty degree vision for him. He blocked a lot of my strikes from behind. For his age the kid can sure fight." He shifted in his chair fussing with his cup. "Shame, really."

The day was nearly over so the group settled in chairs around a wooden table watching each other. "Anyone know how those complaints are coming along? Over fifty kids, hunters in the making have been dropping written complaints, now formal complaints are coming in, certified by a lawyer no less, all describing what happened."

"Recorded like it was, it's more use to the prosecution." Samovar harrumphed. "More like to the uneducated. Those are advanced maneuvers on a scale that's near military. Think about it, letting yourself be the target of not one, but three behemoths. So your team mates can get in a free blind shot?"

"More true then you know. Seen that energy colossus bounty yet? It was turned in to the Vale board. Happened a few weeks ago? Two kids, barely adults ended an energy grim. No one died and no property damage. The weapon, which is mobile I heard, took it down in two hits, and that little eight year old made it."

Salish laughed. "So why has this never been done before? And when do we get some? Mobile with a ships firepower, there should be one every mile on the shore."

"Thirty million for one of those monsters, not including ammo."

"You, sure know a lot. I thought all that equipment was at the Mavideniz fishing port?" Salish smiled finely getting it. "You're not thinking of going active? Are you?" She smiled anew as Obsidiou shrugged.

"Kind of. It would be nice, you know, being in at the beginning of something that could change the world. My niece on my brothers side is a senior at Signal and she's talked a lot about that kid, how great and crazy he is. How devoted he is to ending the grim, not just killing them, ending them. She believes he knows the way to find out how."

Salish shrugged not fully committing. "He may, hundreds of millions have come through here in bounty alone these last few months. We've all seen the recordings, that group the kid has gathered around him. They take down grim in size and quantity only seasoned hunters could or should be able to."

"Well, come the weekend I'm checking with Tai, if the kid went to Mavideniz I'm going, check him out, maybe find out what's going on, maybe in a year transfer over." Obsidiou held his arms up in a shrug. "Hay, bounty's will be coming in, so someone's got to open a new office."

Endings

The end of the week went pretty much as Isaac expected. The board was formal, giving a long itemized list of reasons before stating they had reviewed the evidence presented and sided with Signals administration. Isaac Able Can was to be expelled for endangerment of the student body and recklessness, recommending he be evaluated by a competent psychiatrist. Tai and Isaac gathered there paperwork, stood leaving quietly.

The principal was muttering to himself as he straightened out his paperwork, glad the whole ordeal was finely ending. When the door opened and two men in suits with three city guards walked in. One held up a piece of paper. "Gentlemen, I have a search warrant, approved by the Patch counsel. You are to surrender any documents pertaining to this event. All scroll calls, massages, documents, all pertinent data. You are to submit to the law officers here for arrest while an investigation for conspiracy, misuse of school funds, falsifying data, extortion, intimidation, silencing of witness, and a host of other, minor charges on the docket."

As the outburst intensified one officer's voice rose over them, he informed them that this was not a debate, he would stun them and charge them with resisting arrest if they continued. They were handcuffed, all documents, scrolls and records taken, and ushered out the door into a bedlam of reporters.

As they were place onto a car the principal spotted Isaac standing to the side, who to his wonder locked eyes with him, smiled then turned away, vanishing into the crowed. Frustration or enraged he didn't know why, but the principal screamed a barrage of insults at Isaac, bouncing in the car and raging in his seat. The recordings made by the press all but condemned him. He would get to view his outburst on the news after he posted bail.

The reason for this nightmare was his own students, they had complained, to the hunters gild, the Patch counsel member's, they pooled there funds, hired competent investigators. The hired lawyers had smoothed the way for a full scale investigation of the school and board for racism and corruption. That faunas was considered some kind of gifted child, who had challenged all his courses past graduation, in less then a week. Then passed a low level hunters exam. They didn't need to expunge him, he was already gone. A hunter? He just couldn't believe it, do they hand these out now, to just anyone? They paraded him around like some kind of hero fighting grim, racism and corruption. That faunas needed therapy not a license to carry weapons.

He had been suspended along with a professor, even the school board, pending inquiry. There home's had been searched, vehicles and belongings, the school computer taken. In his office it was much worse, document's some twenty years old were sequestered for study. He knew even if found innocent of all charges no one would want him in any Academy or school. Win or loose the best he could hope for was after the trial he could collect his pension, his career was over, and all for a stupid faunas with mental issues.

**Beacon**

"The entire district's school board?!" Weiss almost screeched pacing wildly. "The principal and professor I can see, but the entire school board on Patch? Even if they're exonerated none will ever be able to hold a trusted position!"

"Didn't take him long to destroy the school system." Blake blandly commented. "I'm just worried he may come here." Weiss stopped frozen in her mad pacing and gawked at Blake. Yang snapped off a quick picture of Weiss. "Hay!"

"This is my wall paper now." Yang declared grinning.

Ruby rolled to the edge of her bed. "Weiss, Blake. You don't know what he can do, so don't jinx it." Blakes eye brows rose to her hairline. "I was just joking about him coming here. The School board aside. The News said he started some kind of mercenary company called Grims Bane made entirely of hunters. Taking high profile contracts. We won't be seeing him." The two sisters each groaned aloud. Ruby pulling a pillow over her head. "She jinxed it she jinxed it!"

Yang stood and looked out the window as if searching for enemies. Blake and Weiss glanced at each other before Weiss asked. "Just what do you expect to see?"

"A forty ton machine that can shoot a one hundred and sixty pound projectile from miles away with enough explosives in it to take out half this buildings wall in a debris storm and most of the rooms inside in one shot." Ruby made a mewing sound pulling back into the tent bed. "You can forget about aura saving you, even if it hits thirty feet away, your dead. I saw what the light weapons can do. Knock down a nevermore at range to five miles."

"Why would he come here?" Blake carefully asked. "From what the reporters say he's driven to end the grim." Yang spun to face Blake her eyes blazing red. "People! An army needs People! You going to say no to someone who can wipe out half the school before anyone even knows there under attack!"

Two tense seconds ticked by before they heard Rubys muted laughing. Yang blinked eyes becoming normal and started chuckling to herself before sitting on Blakes bed. Blake closed her book marking the page with a finger and smacked Yang on the shoulder with it. Then went back to reading. Her bow stretched farther to the sides then normal.

"That was the worst joke you've ever pulled and you have tried some crass ones." Weiss stiffly informed Yang. Yang responded with a. "Meh."

"Some day if we've the time, we should go down to Mavideniz. What's going on there is,, uh,, vary different." Ruby told them.

"Na." Said Yang lightly, climbing up to her roost. "He'll come here, he needs people to run those grim killers."

Weiss and Blake glanced again at each other Blake making a huffing noise. Weiss just shook her head while holding it. "Unbelievable." She muttered.

**Grimm's Bane**

Isaac watched the sun setting from his tent made into an office at site 002 grumbling. The start of the company was as expected. People had heard the news and swarmed, flocking to this place. Then most left, having better things to do then construction work with some grim hunting only for loose coin.

That's just the way Grimm's Bane was, they had picked up twenty people over the month, ten of them from the senior class of Signal. Eighteen of them were working the power plant, iron mine and the foundry. Shifting the crews as needed when something massive had to be moved or built. Fortunately Ironwood had made more then good on the industrial printers one worked if a bit prickly and the other needed minor parts and repair. Took them less then a week to tweak and fix the two.

One was making supports for the mine the other making mobile AA guns, to him they were a marvel, an entire vehicle could be made within a week, and they just had to assemble it, like a 3D puzzle. After a month he sent it over to help with the smelter then redirected it to the dam. The founders as Isaac called them, the students from Signal had pooled there lien scratching together by the parents permission a whopping 21,540,000.00 Lien. That was depleting with all the building going on to the tune of one million a week. Supply's deflated the funds even more. Some hunting stemmed the hemorrhaging but at this rate the company would be bankrupted soon unless they went full time. The six vehicles could do it but the lack of personal stymied any advancement. Some of the students wanting to help had challenged there courses, two had made it.

With the training so far, a four man crew could run that tank, two to each for the AA and two more to the ammo trucks four medics were needed not to mention there equipment. Isaac sighed letting the pen roll off the table onto the grass floor were he just stared at it.

They simply didn't have enough people. Cut back on the smelter and enforce the power plant? Once the water started turning those generators they would have enough to power the town and the mine. Filling two more slots in that dam they could power the smelter and a host of other factories. They needed to get away from dust, that shit got expensive. Sure five hundred lien would get enough fuel dust to push a truck all the way to Vale, power a home for months, but could only power an AA for twenty hours, just using the guns. A tank ate electric dust like a sugar hungry toddler.

The gunpowder was easy enough to make, lots of livestock around, what little came from the mines tailing pile was making iron ammo in a micro forge, still three tank rounds and seven AA rounds a day was not much. Food surprisingly was the big kicker, three of these people had family's and needed enough to house cloth and feed themselves. The land he had was almost fallow, Isaac half smiled remembering that's why it was so cheep.

Getting booted out of school in the middle of summer was a nasty kick in the crotch. Too late to plant there own and too soon to get anything but stored goods from the town. Increasing the population by almost thirty was also putting a strain on goods and services.

More equipment was being called in. Material for construction, and building.

Staring at the pen he made a best guess. "We've got about two months at the rate were going." He knew what was needed, a weekend hunt. The others were still going to school, but they had the weekend off. It took twenty minuets to find out what was going on, most of the kids were not going to make it due to there parents getting all scared there darlings were going to be offed before they graduated. Isaac assumed they wanted them killed by grim after they graduated and moved out. He would have to make concessions he knew, a written if nothing else guarantee there children would not partake of a hunt, just work around the site in preparation for when they did graduate.

Head bolting up he had the answer. "Were morons!" He yelled at the world. "I'm a complete moron!" Then he left the tent.

He grabbed someone working on assembling an AA truck. "Stop that and get me three cameras I can put on a small plane. Configured one forward two to the side hanging under the belly." Then he took off at a run. He found the maker for the mine packed it up for transport hooked it to a vehicle and drove off leaving the half assembled support.

Once back at base he loaded an assembly program for an air craft then reduced it down to one tenth the size. The thing wouldn't work on something that refined so he went for one to five. A small bullhead. A one seat, no cargo with camera array. With enough fuel to do a ten hour survey. He had the lab, which was one person now, three on the weekend's rig up the grim sight as they started to call it for the camera's. Three days and the aircraft was ready for assemblage. The printer was returned to the mine and he and four others put the scout aircraft together. One more day for testing and a sleepless night getting the bugs out.

Six weeks after Grims Bane became a corporation the first scout ship launched into the sky. There one pilot had been told to keep as best they could away from nevermore's. There scout was up less then two hours before finding a pod of grim. The auto counter was still new and counted anywhere from two hundred to two thousand. Two pods within were larger grim, when he returned they pored over the gathered recordings. They estimated what would be needed to take the pod out. Made sure no other pods were around and readied themselves for a hunt. Thirteen went out in five AA's, and two ammo trucks.

Parking in a clearing they set up. That took most of the day. Isaac wanted at least three places they could retreat to if things went south. Then sent some fast runners to invite the grim to them. There spotter aircraft was hovering two miles behind and to the side of the main force almost at max attitude. There job was simple, keep an eye on the grim and send data back to the ground. They programmed everyone's scrolls into the computer and waited. When the teams caught the grims attention and brought them within gun range the two scouts split to the side while the AA copped the trees down and then the grim. The pod of grim came in full force, the echoing gunfire from large caliber weapons drawing more grim to them in mass. They recorded the entire fire fight. Even nailing two nevermore's. The larger grim turned out to be apes. Disappointing but still worth bounty.

It was near nightfall when the grim stopped. They had the scout land, gave him the recorded data with instructions to head back to camp. Copy the record then refuel take a quick nap then head for the Vale hunters board, hopefully arriving at opening hours and then get a count and be paid by sometime next week. If he was too tired, switch out, as it would be a four hour flight just to Vale. They cleaned up as best they could being in a hurry and broke camp heading home. Isaacs discipline kicked in when they arrived. The guns were cleaned and reassembled, reloaded and made ready incase any straggling grim fallowed them home. Then with the watcher on duty they all turned in.

They did this three times in the coming week. The scout would find them and they would try and wipe them out, racking up a combined kill count of over ten thousand.

Grimm's Bane for the first time was in the black, every one was paid and supplied for the next four weeks. Which turned out to be just two weeks. Medical supply's were needed along with a printer that could assemble finer components.

Bane started doing outings, they would leapfrog from one pod to another taking out five in a three day period. Now ammo was a problem, they need that foundry online as well as the mine. The answer came when Isaac turned to Atlas, through Ironwood they found people who not only disliked the country but were willing to do something about it. This troubled Isaac it seemed he was more taking on a burden from another. After talking with one of the more vocal groups he found most did like there country, just wanted it to be better then it was. He told him what he was up to and they gladly showed him some people who did want to leave, but didn't have the funds for it, almost all were faunas. Which shouldn't have surprised him, but it did.

Having talked and worked with Ironwood so much it seemed he was a reflection of Atlas, it turned out he was simply the idealized Atlas. For just a meager 65,000 lien he transferred with family's nearly fifty new workers to Mavideniz. He had told them what to expect, tents and hard work with a promise that things would get better or Grimm's Bane would go out of business.

These family's were allowed to become co owners in the dust mine and iron mine. A few started a business in goods, two started farming, growing to a dozen once they had farm equipment arriving early the next year. Others helped with the dam and foundry which started getting a structure around it. With their wages they bought timber and turned their tents into simple housing. Streets were dug, temp power lines on tree poles were strung before the planed tunnels. Made for the power lines, water lines, and sewage were laid, and the slow snails pace of construction would take the town a year to accomplish. A buss system started as the mine opened up for workers, people, most of them faunas started slowly trickling in.

A counsel meeting for the town was called and Grims Baine was told to be there.

Quite a few wanted to know how far Grims Bane was going to go? How big was the town going to get? Was it growing into a city? They appreciated the electric power helping them conserve on dust, also the protection they gave, but it was obvious to any if left unchecked there little fishing town was going to become at the least a small city. For that they needed infrastructure, strong roads, waste sewage systems, municipality's and taxes to pay for it all. In the end it was adults dealing with mostly children, or you could say, barely adults with big dreams.

Grimm's Bane hunted grim, that's how they earned their keep, and the rest of the industry's were support for the grim hunting. For every one hunter there seemed to be needed almost ten people. Isaac found he could carry this only so far before things started to get murky and confused. Law officer's and courts were needed or a independent attitude of self policing and responsibility as a small example.

Isaac didn't know which way to go so he gathered the Bane and talked it out. In the end there would be Mavideniz West and East Mavideniz. They took a chunk of land they had depleted of grim and did a planed town for it. The total cost would be staggering, but if they built a section at a time on a needed bases it could work. One could buy the property, pay the new city to be for it. That would get the infrastructure to them and then pay to have a home built on it. Sectioning the land to larger plots of three acres allowed for septic tanks with deep wells. Now they needed a bank. Isaac fling up his hands, overloaded and cranky. He left to kill some grim out of spite. Then went working in the lab to figger out more about these grim. "Let the bureaucrats have it, just don't betray the people for short sighted gain." He warned before all but vanishing into the lab.

It was easy for him to catch the smaller grim in mass, just a bit harder for the larger ones. Soon they were dissecting and experimenting on live grim, finding out what effected them. Quickly having a few breakthroughs. The biggest was a filtering system. It seemed when the grim died they turned into vapor, they didn't, not completely. An aquarium like enclosure showed there was something left, a filter system after a week of experimenting was successful.

There filter was just a few sizes larger then a water molecule using the same principals as machines that could mine argon out of the air was made. This could sift particulates of grim out of the air. For every one hundred they killed a pint sized container of oily dark matter could be harvested. An eye dropper showed the true face of grim. Just a few drops and a tinny grim would grow out of it, within a week that thing was a regular sized Beowolve. They started growing them, then killing them over and over in all the ways they could think of, even stuffing dust into them. A group of one hundred grim would create a pool that would make ninety of them or one huge one, several slightly smaller and so on, or eighty. Each time the amount was reduced by the number ten. He understood why grim repopulate so quickly. To completely kill a hundred grim you needed to kill them over five hundred and fifty times. Now they had to find a way to locate and kill off these raindrop sized pools.

Petrol worked, as did any fuel like liquid, even strong alcohol. They just came apart like a Styrofoam cup dipped in gas. It was almost too funny, thinking that's why Qrow was still alive, he was toxic to grim.

Isaac needed fuel, something cheep to operated the tanks electric generators, and aircraft, even diesel and aviation gas. The stuff had worked like magic on grim. All this had taken three months of near non stop construction to reach the point there were at now. The refinery's for extracting fuel from plants was slow. The mines were taking off well enough.

The equipment for surveying the crust took a huge chunk out of there funds, but the semi sized vehicle once deployed found so much, from iron, dust and oil which Isaac made a priority extracting.

Chromium, nickel and iron was coming out in the needed quantities for the manufacture of steal and aluminum, even some precious metals were found mixed in small amounts. The rocks from the tailing piles were used for roads, masonry, and cement.

The dust mine was thin but produced enough in the right sizes for personal weapons, which was exactly what Grimm's Bane needed and the co owners were looking for more deposits. A small construction crew put in a five year bid to make two walls, starting with weapon platforms for the towns, it would be enough to make the workers a living with their families and profit for the owners without bankrupting the towns.

Once the towers were made a twenty foot earth filled wall wide enough to drive on was made. The next section built on the first was a taller wall with weapons for ground and air. The third phase would be underground defenses. As the blueprints for the final wall were made someone wanted a school. Isaac blinked the thought of children never entered his head.

A library like internet was created with all the learning programs Bane could afford. They knew this would be much cheaper then building a school and manning it. It would be up to the parents to see to there children's education.

The printers were freed up and Isaac started building tanks and armored personal carriers, AA carriers, a Command and control center was drawn up which put another big dent in the funds when all the electronics and surveillance devices came in. Another small aircraft and two drones to scout with. The foundry supplemented the printers by shaping the steal for the tanks, making the heaver frames faster then the printers could. Three were completed by the months end, and part of an assault airship was started. Isaac used a mechanized troop transport design he remembered.

By the end of the forth frantic month Grimm's Bane received their first contract offer.

News had been spreading, Grimm's Bane topped the largest bounty's in Remnants recorded history. They had received a lot of requests to clear out grim, yet no one had offered to pay them for it, so they had stuck to the pods of grim around them, an ever growing sphere, some wanting to help the towns were given the option to do so, renting the equipment. Paying for the ammo, fuel, and repairs on there own dime.

Isaac was rather cold about it. "We can't save everyone, not now, when were stable yes. But right now if you do this it's on your own." They countered by signing up the towns to offer a portion of there resources in a payment for a protection plan. With just the food alone given by the towns Grims Bane reduced out going cash flow by a massive amount.

Teams were sent out in the zones they cleared. Scouting the land above and below, looking for pools that the grim could emerge from. Gathering data on everything they could get. Another month went by. Then it happened.

An actual paying request came from a town east of Ménage.

Isaac's team gathered in their meeting hall. The contract showed promise, but the customer was a question. This was from a woman called Sienna Khan. She was offering to pay for transport, supplies and payment for removing one, possibly three pods that had grown uncomfortably close to her community.

The man, or faunas stood quietly, he spoke softly explaining what Miss Khan wanted. His posture as if he was almost praying, awaiting there answer.

"Wow, a White Fang contract." Isaac snickered. "So, here is how I see it. We can say no and set ourselves up as political asshats saying we don't like your policies, we won't work for you. Guaranteeing we never end the grim. Work for them, declaring ourselves working with them, or take there moneys and tell everyone to fuck off we work for the highest bidder when it comes to removing grim. Establishing ourselves as a contract grim extermination union made up of hunters."

**The Random Voices Were Many**

"We have been getting a lot of come help us for free or low pay missions."

"Moving this much equipment takes some serous cash, just the boat to transport what we have is almost two million. Driving down is somewhat cheaper, but not by much. But to top it off we get the grim bounty driving down and back."

"If we drive we can claim bounty's on what we kill as we go, but we won't be able to make side trips, the customer would be expecting us by a due date."

"But we can target them for the trip home gauging the risk after the contract, remember if we except this it will be the largest pod we have ever engaged and there may be two other pods we have to contend with, people could die."

So it went until most ideas had been voiced.

"Ok." Began Isaac not hiding his excitement. "Lets do this. A small contingent, two light tanks four AA's one medic, one command and control, three ammo carriers one heavy earth mover, a backhoe and two avgas drones plus support for camping. We travel down there with about forty people, that way we can stomp any minor encounter and once arrived we scout, take photos to figger out what we need. If this is doable, then give a time frame for the arrival of the main group, we set up as needed in a location of our own choosing then draw them in and bang, about one or two days fighting with clean up, about a full week, and were done. Remember it is possible there will be more then three pods were dealing with, were going to go through a lot of ammo, so plan for eight times the normally needed amount."

"Equipment, at least four mortars with two fully loaded truck's. Two missile launchers with eight reloads. Three howitzers with enough to fire none stop for two days. Small arms and ammo for a group ten times our size. We have to go into this with over kill, because in the end it will ether be enough or your not going to be alive."

"What about thumper?"

"That things running?" Isaac blinking surprised at the voice.

"That monster is why we don't have twenty more tanks, but yes it fly's. You need to get out of the lab." Isaac harrumphed in a ya that will be the day.

"You do know about SCP 008? It's why we put out so many light auto fire guns. That SCP is small quiet and deadly." Isaac leaned back whistling past his teeth. "If we had puff we would just need the two and poof dead grim."

"Puff is going to need at least two more months Isaac,, just making the refined fuel for the missiles is time consuming. To date we have only two aerosol missiles."

Isaac laughed. "I sometimes still can't believe we've done so much in so little time. That reminds me, if were taking thumper we need at least ten fuel trucks for it and another twenty for the vehicles and tanks."

"We got it all. Fuel and Ammo for days. Isaac stop sleeping in the lab, the towns increased by almost a thousand people."

"Ok, I leave the logistics to those better then I. Let's make an advanced party, head on down and scope things out, see how the White Fang live. If we get into any reverse racism we leave, unless Ms Khan takes care if it."

"Got your standard contract. Feel free to change the numbers."

"If its so bad even the White Fang cant handle it, this will be a hard one, so ya I will change the numbers as needed."

Isaac looked at the messenger. "Tell Ms Khan to expect us two days after your arrival. Eight if you're traveling by air."

"I will relay your massage to "Miss Khan", safe roads." He bowed and left.

"Is it me or is there something oily about that priest?"

"You just hate smooth talkers."

"Tell you what, send thumper down, to arrive about half a day after we do. Fill it with equipment and reloads. I don't what her to know it can carry tanks. That thing landing on site should loosen her coin purse."

"Or tightening it up thinking were not fighting hard enough."

"Customers do like a good show."

**So ended Grims Banes first major contract meeting.**

**Arrival**

Sienna Khan watched not sure what she was looking at. Grimm's Bane had arrived almost to the hour they said they would. But. She looked at it all. Two heavy tracked vehicles with cannons that left almost six inch deep depressions in the ground. A long semi truck with thickly armored glass and the trailer it towed swayed slowly as if under great weight. Two smaller vehicles towing a flat bed loaded down. Another semi with earth moving equipment four armored trucks with a four point gun on it's back. Three liquid containers and another two trucks. A young boy. One she knew from the news jumped out from one of the armored trucks and approached her as if he knew her.

"You must be Isaac. I've read a lot about you." He nodded. "Lets get to it." Isaac pulled out a map handing her a pen. "Mark were each pod is, and mark where you've lost people."

She stiffened watching him. Isaac shrugged. "You won't be calling us if you weren't loosing your people. I'm guessing you have an assassin grim softening you up before the attack. One of the reasons why were responding so fast." Isaac had made a guess and was glad Sienna Khans reaction proved him right.

After she marked the map he nodded thanks and headed for a group of humans taking a tarp from a flatbread. He talked to them a bit before heading to the back of the line of vehicles. Sienna studded the humans, they were dressed like the boy, in a loose fitting dull green cameo, each with that same mark, which seemed to be on ever piece of equipment. The two moved quickly, without hesitation. She felt a bit of a chill. Forty people, all hunters here at her request. As she watched a small plane took shape as the two bolted it together, about twelve feet long with wide wings, a small engine just foreword and under the tail.

Once satisfied they put on helmets with mikes. With a hand held controller hooked to something on the truck the plane rose to an angle on a launch rail. Then with a hiss of compressed air it took flight. The engine turning on just moments latter. The two had pulled down a dark mask covering the front of their helmets, talking quickly into the mikes. She heard a young voice calling over the background noise. "Miss Khan!" Fallowing it she found Isaac waving her to come over.

She walked hearing her escort fallowing. She was edgy about humans, one of the delays before contacting this group was Grims Bane had so many humans, yet they seemed to be run by, or taking orders from a faunas boy not even ten years old who had challenged, and passed all the schooling required, becoming the youngest hunter in recorded history. After that he had all but destroyed the school system in patch. Even now those self rightist humans were bowing to the laws they had ignored.

Isaac was talking into a phone attached to the trailers back end. The back door opened with a clank of moving iron. It was a thick door Sienna noted, like a vault door. "Armored." She whispered as Isaac walked up the steps. As she fallowed. "Sorry not enough room for eight more." Isaac told her, indicating her guards. Then the door closed. Trapping her inside. It was a brief moment until she saw the screens, electronics, and people who sat around what seemed console after console of displays, some flicking to life. A quick count showed over twenty chairs and ten people in here, two faunas she noted.

"Give us main screen. What we got so far?" Isaac asked no one in particular. Two large monitors flickered to life one showing a moving scene the other a static black with white dots moving across it. "Sam? You online?" Sienna frowned at the odd name. "Ya, we got SCP 008's on site. Looks like about four so far." He nodded and turned to Sienna Khan to explain.

"008 is an assassin grim, ugly thing, a ball like eye and eight rope like arms with arrow tipped spikes at the end. They float and are less then a foot tall when scrunched up." He pointed to the black screen. "Those white dots are 008. Someone combine screens, lets see where they are." A third screen came on showing the outer edges of White Fang encampment. "Ya, you should stay away from those trees and bushes for the next few days if you don't want to loose any more people." He told her.

Looking closely Sienna stated the obvious. "If you can detect them, kill them. That's what I'm paying you for." The people around her murmured a few glancing at her annoyed. "Not how this works." Isaac countered. "What I see so far, from what I'm told is your being set up, an attack is coming, and you want us to tell the grim we know about it by taking out there scouts and assassins? What would you do if that happened? Think of them as guided, or intelligent if you will."

"I don't like games, speak clearly." She demanded.

"With our arrival, and suddenly there spotted and killed. Who ever is guiding them would know the game was up and send in the entire army, bringing the whole thing down on you. Just keep your people away from them, we will update you as they move, once we found them all. Then when were ready to attack the main group we kill 008 all at once."

"Isaac." One of the CC called out. "Second drone is up and the main pod is in sight, count so far is over two thousand normal, five hundred Behemoth or Giant class, about fifty Titan or colossus. One leviathan." She turned on an empty screen the shape of the grim in question with a number next to it.

"Nice start, about twenty million another fifty for bounty on that lot." Isaac told Sienna. The screen showed a large blob about a mile across. Then they saw the second one. Isaac whistled between his teeth. It was twice the size of the first. "Sorry but fifty million for the whole thing, and that's a discount, the rest will be made up in bounty."

When the third pod was found and counted they were looking at an astounding eleven thousand normal, almost six thousand of giant class, one thousand or more of Titan or border line colossus class, nearly a thousand flyers in pod two, eighteen leviathans total. Scattered, smaller pods like sentry's were posted around the main pods upped the grand total past twenty three thousand normal, nearly ten thousand giants to colossus.

"For that whole lot, 100 million lien, nothing less, half now half when they're all dead." He told Sienna. The uproar from the staff stunned the red cat. They were asking if Isaac was out of his mind. They didn't want to take the contract.

Isaac whistled between his teeth shutting them up. "OK, were going to do this. Twenty million for the first, if the second one comes, which it will fifty million. One million for each small pod. We have good ground, we can place ourselves," He touched the screen showing a large map around the White Fang encampment. "Here where the second and third pod has a long distance with rough ground and trees to travel through. We will be drawing them away from the White Fang and giving us some time, but and you all have seen it before the pods will come, and that third one has a lot of large grim. Behemoths, titan, colossus, and leviathan in it, it will move slowly, that will be our edge. One hundred million lien for all the pods and surrounding grim. We set up now, six days we attack, and for once make a difference."

Then he turned to Sienna crossing his arms. "Well that is, if the customer agrees to the contract."

"More then a steep price." She told him. "The White Fang runs on donations, the amount will drain almost all our funds."

"Ok, Half now. Monthly payments until it's paid in full. I know what it's like to be on the edge. But you should know. At that price it would be cheaper to just move your base." He added. He watched the red cat shake her head before saying.

"All right I will authorize half payment. We will work out a monthly payment based on our donation's, averaged out over a year."

"Fair enough, if you don't mind me asking, why won't you move?" Sienna looked down on him and gave a wicked smile. "This is the best location for our needs." Isaac could only nod leading her to the exit.

"You all know what to do, find us a spot over here to make a stand. We will need to be able to advance then retreat. I want two fallback points with hills, make em if you have to. Plain for the small pod first. Make em come at us at the same time, I think the second will wait for the third pod to merge with them, so keep that in mind." He opened the vault like door Khan fallowing. Finding agitated guards waiting for her.

Outside he called the main camp. "Hay. Zed. Yep we have the contract, bring everything even our puffs, get it on a launcher, this is major." He heard Zed laughing.

"We were already on the road, soon as you opened that door to go in we knew and were moving, everything is packed up, all but a finger crew to protect the towns. See you in four." Then he hung up Isaac stared at the scroll shaking his head. That's when he heard Thumper coming up. "Good timing." He told the wind.

Three hundred feet behind the medical trucks, it came down quickly from the sky. Sienna Khan had seen the business end of Atlas military air ships, but nothing like this. It was long and thin, wide enough to crush a whole house, holding a lot of hard points on it's belly, side and when it landed top. Small steeply angled windows with armaments facing forward told her it was made to attack, come straight at a foe. She could see six engines all but attached to the body wrapped in thick armor on the one side, they rotated as any bullhead would allowing for maneuverability. About a story and a half tall, the belly glowed green with gravity dust, a number of stubby feet came out as it landed, dust and dirt were kicked up by the powerful jets over a large area. Siennas hair was kicked around despite the distance by the jet wash. Isaac jerked a thumb at it. "Thumper." Like it explained it all.

She took Isaac into her camp, to the main building. It stuck Isaac that Miss Khan didn't seem to mind the interruptions she received and seemed more like a mother interacting with them, most wanting to know what was going on only from her.

"High Leader!" The owner of that voice walked swiftly toward her. Isaac eyed the man he had two others with him. All wearing masks. One was as large as he would become, the other slightly smaller the one in front dressed as would a hunter, all in black with red highlights the ones in back dressed in what could be called casual White Fang all wore decorated masks.

When he came to a stop Sienna put up her hand, a gesture to quiet him down. "Adam. This is Isaac. Commander of Grim's Bane. Isaac this is Adam Torres commander of the Vale section of the White Fang. Grims Bane have offered to help clear out the northern grim." He looked at Isaac it seemed intently for a moment before speaking. "I saw the news. You shattered a powerful syndicate of humans bent on persecuting the faunas. Keeping us ignorant."

Isaac made a noncommittal shrug. "Not me, really. The students, hunters in the making spend about a million lien to legally take them down, I was the focal point."

He shook his head smiling. "Still, the youngest hunter in history, passing years of human schooling in days." He took a step forward the passion in his voice was almost infectious. "Join us, help the White Fang, you have potential unlike any I've seen in years."

Isaac held up his hand shaking his head. "Grim first, once these creatures are taken care of. We'll see. Grims Bane are all licensed hunters we have humans and faunas working together for a common goal, a common enemy, we hunt grim."

He seemed to loose his smile even his shoulders sagged a bit. Taking a breath he faced then addressed Sienna. "High Leader, I want to explore with you an opportunity presenting itself in the Vale region."

"I know you've traveled far Adam and I do want to hear your proposal, but this must take precedence. I would, for now, have you tell our patrols to stay at least." She looked at Isaac.

"We found assassin grim can reach out about twenty feet from ambush, so fifty should be good without alerting them that you know about there existence." He responded crisply.

Sienna khan stepped forward explaining to Adam. "This needs to be done quietly, we are being watch, by grim who have killed three of us. Tell the patrols to keep fifty feet from any trees or bushes, by the time you have finished I should be ready to hear you." She told him. Adam bowed slightly. "As you wish, High Leader." Then he turned and headed to the north of the camp.

Isaac sighed as they walked toward a large wooden building with White Fang emblazons draped on it's front. "I disappointed him."

Sienna smiled. "He is quite passionate, believing strongly he is making a difference. To be honest, so am I. You command what appears to be a powerful army. You seem confident these thousands of grim can be eradicated. I thought at first it was youthful pride, but what little I've seen, your well spoken, to the point, resourceful, have the best you can gather by your side, and your people by the actions I'm seeing. They all will fallow you, even if they think they may die doing it."

As the doors were opened for Sienna Isaac lost himself in thought. How many would die? All, none? He knew the capabilities of the weapons he had made how a Hyper SHSBOT round could pass twelve feet of pressed steal. He knew thumper could fly through a flock of nevermore's without damage. The flesh was the problem, people could just panic under the right circumstance. He had done it himself once and it nearly took his life.

They entered a hall into a smaller room. It was quite opulent he noted and regretted offering such a low price. He had to smile, understanding her a bit more, she was trapped, by the golden crown, the power and wealth her position gave, honeyed words was all she knew. He laid the contract out on the table, sitting down with out being asked to or after her. It was time for business.

He gave some instructions and warnings on what the weapons they used would do and the damage they would cause to the land. Letting her make preparations for it at her end. Isaac found she did have issues with humans running around camp. Most here had no where else to go or were persecuted by humans some had been mutilated, some wanted revenge, others a small amount wanted peace, but the massage was clear, keep the humans away from the compound.

She could pay one point five million a month or one million depending on donations. It seemed fair, he didn't want them to start pushing for monies from the faunas who donated there meager lien. The rest was transferred to Grims Bane's main account in Vale. The contract would be sent to there lawyers and record keepers.

With the bureaucracy taken care of Isaac left. Finding Adam waiting in the hall. "Your up Commander." He left the door open as he passed, not seeing Adam smile, liking the words.

Once outside he called C.&C. getting a blip update. He studied where they would make camp, found his easy-go an almost golf cart like thing, to scout ahead then helped set up the medical, artillery, secondary defenses, mortars and AA guns. The mines. The pattern for the tanks light and heavy. Gave orders for the concealed placement of the light assassin killing guns. At a command from C&C they would activate. Set up the mess tent and all the details for an army of almost two hundred people to stay a few days. Most would sleep where ever they could but a tent was made with beds next to the medical tent incase it was needed.

They tore down woods, shaped the ground to channel the grim, created artificial hills for the tanks and dug trenches placing iron sleeves with roofs to protect troops from energy grim. The tanks did some maneuvers to get a feel of the land, weapons and ammo were laid out and overstocked for the first part of the mission. By the fifth day they had a large killing field laid out. The mines flanked them and were buried as close as they dared to the grim pod's. All were marked by C&C.

The arrival of the main force stunned the White Fang camp.

Early O-dark, before the dawn Isaac received a call from C&C the main force was a mile away, wiping his face he headed for the easy-go. A small golf cart like vehicle who's only service was to scoot someone along quickly over distances. He called Miss Khan as he traveled. They had been keeping her informed how far and long it would be before they arrived. Now he had to get to her before the camp went on brown alert and someone stupid fired on the column, which would automatically fire back. Tension was high enough as it was with just thirty or so humans being near, now about another hundred odd were arriving with only sixty faunas in weapons of war.

Sienna slept in the same building they signed the contract in so picking her up was a simple task. The squeaking of metal, and grinding tread could be heard from nearly twelve light tanks, engine noise from fifty or so flatbeds carrying equipment and six heavy tanks. The vehicles lights reflecting off the clouds overhead, tensions would be from excited to intense.

They stopped by the gate, a kind of blockade where the White Fang would charge any who wanted to drive farther east or south. Isaac almost laughed seeing the guard pull out a donation basket. The driver of the first tank was laughing, rocking his tank as if he may sprint forward to intimidate the poor guy doing his job. Sienna waved the toil keeper back telling him to open the gate. The column drove by at about ten miles an hour passing that tollgate for fifteen minuets. Isaac waving at the hunters as they passed. Then fallowed the last one to camp keeping somewhat behind the dust storm. "Sorry about that." Isaac apologized for the first driver. "I'll reprimand him, by docking his pay." Sienna shook her head. "No, that driver was a faunas. Just were do you put them?"

"Were Grimm's Bane Miss Kahn, we hunt grim, skill is what gets anyone in the position they want. You just have to be the best available." Sienna looked down at this child and found adult eyes staring back at her. _He's annoyed_. She thought.

Two hours past dawn they were set up as well as could be, some last minute changes in the tanks line up, four AA's near them and the rocket trucks far behind that. The mortar crews were behind a artificial hill between the rocket trucks with energy deflectors anchored into the soft earth by long rods of iron rammed in with a jackhammer. The forward AA's, flanking them. Then rear guard AA's were scattered in threes around the main perimeter. They set out more assassin hunters. Final checks of equipment and electronics were made two drones launched with three on standby, the medic and mess tent were seen to. Artificial hills had been created around the medical tents, with a straight shot away from the fighting if it came to it. With nothing else to do they took a small breakfast then primed there equipment, taking slow aim at there assigned sections of the map, waiting.

While they ate Sienna had close to a thousand questions about this equipment. Which Isaac answered in somewhat more detail then she wanted. All too soon they went back and did the final checks before the attack.

"This would have been better at night, but ya can't have everything." Isaac laminated. He had offered to have Sienna khan in the C&C just to keep her out of the mess that was about to happen but she insisted on being outside, witnessing with him first hand. They had climbed up into a makeshift crows nest. A vertical tower much like a tall tower for a power line. They were over sixty feet in the air. Isaacs computer was the last electronic device to be set up. A physical cable running down the tower then into C&C. As it booted and he eyed the forest that held more grim then he had ever seen in one place and gave the command. "We are go, activate counter for SCP 008, missile trucks." He seemed to count to five. "Fire." The guns placed around her and there camp were making popcorn sounds as the assassin grim were dealt with.

Sienna watched shocked at the noise entering her helmet. With it on she couldn't hear her fingers snap, these missiles made an almost screaming sound as they left the tubs, ripping out chunks of dirt with there exhaust. Ten to a row ten rows deep. The noise went on for almost a minuet. "Artillery weapons free, fire when ready."

Sienna felt the concussion wave from those guns that were almost two hundred feet to the side of her. Flaming donuts blasted out of the barrels turning into smoke rings. She had been amused when a water truck had sprayed the soil around the camp, to keep dust down she was told. Now she knew they would be almost blind with dirt if they hadn't. The missile trucks had backed up over the torn up earth, there tubs lowing like a dump truck. Another truck backed into and met it then started reloading missile after missile.

"Impact in 3,2,1!" A excited vice filled her ears. Isaac was looking forward with binoculars. As she strained her eyes she could see flashes miles away the starting of plumes of smoke and fire rising. It was five seconds before she heard the muffled by distance explosions. He had told her they were using thermal weapons. To kill a grim completely, you needed fire.

Downrange didn't look like a wide area was hit by the missiles, but the computer plate in front of her showed a scattering of impacts like a shotgun blast, all burning. The grim within were scattering in all directions. Then the artery hit. A white wave of compressed air bubbled above the tree tops sending parts of trees and dirt skyward, and where the missiles were a faint sound you could clearly hear the blast as something with almost fifty pounds of explosives detonated. The large guns kept firing, this would be a constant barrage she had been told. They would be directed by there command and control. That heavily armored trailer which was positioned as a wall between them and the grimm.

C&C announced to them. "The grim have reoriented, there coming." Isaac zoomed out on his data plate, watching the grim as a collection of varied sized white dots covering the miles to reach them, all the time being shelled by howitzers, and now the large tanks, when they came within two miles the smaller tanks started firing along with the mortar crews. Sienna felt as if a lot of hands were slapping and pushing on her body. The ground shook, the tanks rocked, a concussion of air radiating around them with each shell shot as the grim mindlessly ran toward them.

"Second pod of flyers are coming in." C&C reported. AA platforms rotated, aimed and fired quick short bursts the pad showed after a few seconds nevermore's blinking out of existence at over four miles away. Sienna half smile she had intended to cheat them, they were asking far to much, but now she wondered if that was smart, Adam had suggested it, his hate for humans blatant. Yet not knowing how large the pods were, accusing them of falsifying the data. She knew that was no longer true the nevermore's were only in the second pod, for quick reaction to a threat Isaac had said. He kept saying the grim were guided, they could coordinate, use tactics like a faunas or human would. Now she believed it. The third pod was moving trying to join with the second while it slowly moved down to them. She stiffened not likening the idea that her camp had been targeted for extermination by the grim, assassins had come, killing and watching them, the grim had gathered in the largest mass she had ever seen, without Grimm's Bane willing to take the contract they would all be scattered to the wind.

Then she more felt then heard the rumbled of thousands of grim running towards them. They had entered what Isaac called the killing fields. A cleared out area over a mile wide and long. Heavy machineguns in the trenches opened up, streaks of light flickering forward. The tanks fired main and secondary's, almost straight into them blowing grim fifty or a hundred feet into the air. There smaller weapons firing continually. The forest burned in an out of control blaze, smoke billowing up for miles. The missile trucks flickered to a green color. "Fire at second pod, don't let em think." Isaac said. Sienna looked up that was almost ten miles away. They had that range? She watched the trucks bed shifted to an angle, to the main body and rise up preparing to fire, the angle was different then before, it had been almost ten degrees, now it was about thirty, long rang she concluded. The rockets screamed flying off the trucks back like a nightmare, moving so fast they were just a flicker and gone in a trail of smoke.

A red blip appeared in the first pod. "Colossus class grim, energy caster now in range." C&C barked out. "HT, 1 and 3.. Commander you have the ball." Isaac said then ignored the screen. Looking to the left.

The scene before her looked like something out of an old war flick. Explosion's randomly appeared, dirt rising dozens, some hundreds of feet into the air, bodies of larger grim flue to the side and the smaller grim just vanished. The heavy guns made a wall of death while the infantry cut the faster grim down by the hundreds. Two of the tanks stopped firing, slowly turning there guns, and seemed to wait then fired as one. Two seconds passed and Sienna saw the large grims head snap back, then it fell smoking as it died. She swallowed slowly, if the distance was right it had just come within two miles, it never reached the point were it could use it's weapon. The nevermore's were slowly reaching them, just the shear numbers of them, they simply could not be shot down fast enough with what they had.

"Thumper. Weapons free, you have the ball do not stray into pod two or three." Isaac voice said into her com unit. Rows and rows of tracer rounds shot high over her head lancing into the nevermore's. She turned to see it, fallowing the lines of tracer rounds, it was a dot in the sky, so high in the air and slashing through the nevermore's like butter. Then the thumps, A larger gun on the crafts sided was picking off the larger grim. She shook her head realizing everything here was made to kill grim at ranges greater then a mile. Only the infantry had short ranged weapons which seemed to hit just as hard as the larger ones.

It made her wonder why had this kind of fighting not been done before? Hunters had always traveled alone or in small groups as far back as she could remember. She had read some of the reports, how Isaac said he had ideas on how to kill these grim that his professors would, could not understand.

She looked out at the battlefield, saw the drifting black smoke of grim, the fires burning, consuming the forest. How the new fire was spreading keeping the second wave of grim from waiting for the third so it could combine into a herd of thousands to overrun them. The fire they left hampered the third pod, making them go around the raging forest fire.

The larger grim that could endure the fire's became targets to the longer ranged guns. She could see the second pod shifting more towards them, those scout drone's, small and high above them kept everyone up to date on the battlefield and they had three more to cover if they lost one. The heaver third pod would be left behind to fight on its own. The question remained, with what they had, would it be enough.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Isaac yelled into the mike. Breaking Sienna out of retrospection. "All heavies reload lights odd then even reload. Smoke em if ya got em, snack em if ya can. Artillery keep pounding em take half off. Rockets give two rounds into pod two, C&C will give you targets warn us before you fire."

The dust started to clear in the killing fields, nothing but smoking holes remained. Sienna smiled knowing the first pod of grim were gone, part of the second was damaged and on there way here. The air threat was almost gone Thumpers guns still sounding at a distance as it did a wide swing to the east. Some of the more excitable nevermore's trying to chase it down putting themselves in an L shaped crossfire. The command screen showed the new targets the rockets were to hit, just inside the far northern end of pod two. She could understand it, it would cut them off from pod three with a forest fire. Brut force tactics she admitted but effective.

Trucks moved forward in a quick line parking then backing up to the tanks. A crane like rig stretched out from the truck. A magnetic grapple moved a shell over the tank lowering it into a hole. This repeated until full she assumed. Then the crew gathered large spent casings around the tanks before driving away. Ten minutes and the bulky tanks were reloaded halve of the lights then the other half. In under fifteen minutes. The rockets fired twice waiting for instructions as they again reloaded.

Isaac, Sienna Khan noted was smoking, it looked odd to her seeing a child with a smoke in his mouth, muttering into a mike. The AA configuration shifted along with one of the howitzers. That was dragged to the front by something that looked like an over sized treadid pallet jack you could sit in. The massive gun was lowered to a ninety degree angel, it still towered above the light tanks in front of it. "Point blank." Sienna murmured. She knew it would fire on any large grim, the sizes that were coming could reach them at over a mile with there energy weapons. She took a breath. This was the part where the C&C had been against the mission. "C&C move the steel forward." Isaac commanded.

The infantry she noted were outside, not protected by any real armor. What they had was more to block or deflect the energy up and away. She glanced at the sun surprised to find it past mid day. Had they really been fighting for hours? It seemed like they had just started, she could see from her perch some working, others resting or eating, others getting ready for the next wave. A fuel truck drove by, refueling anything with an engine, a strange rotten smell came from that liquid.

The two guns kept firing, they were now an expected noise, more felt then heard. That large aircraft they called thumper landed and took on fuel and ammo some distance away. Sienna decided to see how her people were doing, as she climbed down she heard Isaac say. "Things will heat up in about ten minuets. I'm thinking it may be best to evacuate the base and head to the sea, or if you've hard shelters get in there."

Jumping to the ground. She told him. "See you in ten." Then took Isaacs easy go and headed for the White Fang base.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed, kind of long but I couldn't find a good brake point and had to force one.

Leave a comment as it helps me as a storyteller.

It accrued to me that I should put down in writing what I have done to Remnant.

The two continents of Anima and Sanus are one super continent. Looked to much like a napkin smear. The world is larger +1/5th larger. Distances are farther and air is thicker for the same reasons. I moved Menagerie farther north, so it would not have the same temperature as Solitas or Atlas. It was at the twentieth parallel near the south pole. Mavideniz is by the shallow sea. Two Hours from Patch and four from Vale, also four hours to the White Fang and Ménage.


	6. Chapter 6

This is the ending, part two of this mini series. More world building and character development with Sienna and Adam.

* * *

**Grimm's Bane**

Sienna Khan found most of the White Fang gathered in clumps, on high ground or standing on roofs, watching the firefight. She couldn't blame them, the noise alone would make even the most fearful watch. Driving to the main building Sienna wasted no time getting in and activating the encampments intercom.

"Attention. White Fang members. What you have seen so far is but a prelude to what is to come. It has been recommended by the commander of Grims Bane that all members of the White Fang seek hardened shelter or evacuate south. You have ten minutes." She hung up the intercom making a thump echoing across the camp. She moved intent to return, finding Adam Taurus coming towards her with his subordinates. It took less then a second to see something was on his mind. She half guessed what it was, for it was on her mind as well.

"You have an opinion?" Sienna asked, her tone made it clear she was hearing him out of respect only. Adam bowed slightly a fist over his chest. "High Leader. Why are you not commanding us to take their weapons?" Adam straightened up and started to fidget his emotions rising. "We out number them three to one, they are occupied, we can take them by surprise." He stopped moving awaiting for her orders.

"Are you asking me to break an agreement? With a fellow faunas? Just because he has humans in his little army?" She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back watching him intently. "I know. We fight, every day for fairness with the humans. More times then not we have to burn them out, just to get them to listen. We have to steal to obstruct the uncaring governments and greedy corporations who make financial slaves of us, keeping us poor and uneducated."

Sienna Khan walked closer to Adam her tone low in anger. "This young Isaac Cane has been making positive strides in equality with humans." She pointed in the direction of Grims Bane. "These humans have helped him, donating millions to take down a system that was going to forsake him and you want me to order their deaths?"

"With these weapons we could take all of Vale to Ménage. The humans would have to bow to Us." Adams words and passion as always when he spoke like this were contagious. It was clear he considered the cost in lives worth it. The two with him obviously believed completely his words.

"Do you really believe we can defeat just over two hundred licensed hunters with military grade weapons, with six hundred White Fang?" Sienna countered.

"I never took you for getting soft. High Leader." Adam softly told her, he seemed more surprised then angry or insulting.

Sienna turned away taking a step and a breath, strangling her anger before turning back. "All right, say we do this. That were successful. Do any here know how to run one of those, tanks? There are two more of those grim pods coming for Grims Bane, an unheard of number of twelve leviathans in those pod's." She did not wait but pounded into them the flaws in there thinking. "Perhaps we can torture one of the survivors, maybe a faunas?" Khan could feel her frustrated anger rising but continued. "Don't think for a minute that being faunas makes them collaborator's. Everyone there is loyal to Isaac and his dream, faunas would be fighting faunas. I will not allow that!" Sienna stepped back mentally pounding down her anger. Then kept going in detail.

"Do you know how to make the rounds they use? There not dust, it's some kind of powdered chemical of Isaacs own design, like the tanks, or that aircraft, and the list goes on." She walked slowly as she spoke, getting up into Adams face. "I never took you to be impulsive and short sighted, or desperate. I never imaged you unable to even think such things trough. Was I premature in giving you control of the White Fang in Vale?" Khan saw him take a step back his mind spinning for an answer. So she pressed on.

"You can't take their command and control center without destroying it. That armor is vault door thick. That trailer is the brains of Grims Bane, which I am happy to say has faunas inside who have earned rightfully their place. Then there is that gunship, an armored gunship with cannons on it almost as potent as those three howitzers." She stood back and sighed restraining her aggravation. "I personally watch it destroy a large flock of fully grown Nevermore's at a distance that made it look like a dot in the sky. That firepower alone could decimate our camp, destroying our merger air fleet. I say that because you and I know our airships could never stand up to a hundred nevermore's, where Grims Bane destroyed almost a thousand."

In the silence that fallowed a jet could be heard winding up. Sienna Sighed explaining in a rather tired way knowing she had to sway them or this would become a festering problem.

"To this young faunas. We, I gave the word of the White Fang. We paid well for there services. When they clear out these grim we can safely expand, provide faunas protection and shelter, a place to live unafraid, and create the resources to build a city that will make Menagerie look like a bunch of primitives. This place will become the stepping stone off that retched island, the foothold into the human world. One we will never surrender."

She looked at her scroll. "It's almost time for the second wave of grim to arrive. These will be the larger grim, behemoths up to titan with five leviathans." She paused to let it sink in. "Grims Bane will be using heaver firepower, something we have yet to see." She saw Adams pressed lips his frown if you will.

Sienna asked him sincerely. "Think. We are two miles, to the side from that army, the grim over seven. They are going to be using a weapon that may damage our buildings from over five to ten miles away. At least that's what the kit hinted at. So, search the camp. Send any one you find into the shelters and wait for the all clear." Khan held up her scroll before turning and leaving.

Annoyed Sienna Khan drove almost recklessly coming to a stop at the rear of the camp by the medical tent. Someone called out not much time left. Nodding Sienna sprinted to the tower, finding it laying on its side almost completely packed onto a truck. The tanks were far away near the end of the cleared land.

Turning to the armored trailer Sienna approached, the door opening as she neared. "Glad you could make it." The human said and offered her a hand up the steps. Sienna looked at the offered arm for a full two seconds before taking it.

Inside the chatter from a dozen voices mixed in her ears. "Times up people." Isaac told them. "Bombardment." The muffled explosions from the howitzers were the only sound, everything else was muted to nothing. The screens showed who was firing. The soft chatter picked up as C&C picked out and directed who was firing at who. "Incoming Breath Weapon! Button up now!" Khan half smiled. It was a faunas commanding them. Tanks in random order blinked to the color yellow, the forward howitzer erected a hard light barrier, angled to shoot over it. Someone using a telekinetic semblance was loading huge shells with white bags into the gun, she timed the rounds to be once every fifteen seconds.

A titian breathed, flatting what was left of the burning forest, almost all of the tanks vanished in that energy. It reached them moments later, only a few of there cameras going dark for mere seconds told the tail of the inferno just outside the door. Then that leviathan died from a hit by a Howitzer. Everyone started cheering. "Focus!" Barked Isaac. "Golden BB shot, true. But. This is far from over." The noise died quickly as they mutely returned to work. Some of the lighter tanks were damaged, control telling them to fall back, or get behind one of the larger tanks.

They spread out making it harder for the grim to hit them all. Sienna noted they now formed oblique patterns. She understood getting hit head on was more damaging then getting hit at an angle. Two long missiles icons blinked green on a side monitor. Sienna frowned puzzled at it. One controller held that position.

"Puff is online." She said. Isaac picked up an electronic pen drawing a circle off center of pod two saying. "You have the ball." Sienna watched the woman gulp, run a checklist turned a key then pressed down on it. A monitor which had been showing a scene of the sky suddenly started moving quickly coming down low to the earth. "Puff is in the air, twelve seconds." She announced. "Impact north by east of pod two. Ten seconds." She flipped a covered button and held a thumb over it. All the tanks changed to a blue color their guns turning away from the grim, people were jumping into holes and pulling the lid over themselves. That forward howitzer had a dome of hard light around it and the truck delivering ammo. Sienna Khan swallowed with a dry throat. Wondering what was coming.

"Danger close." Someone said with the calmest voice she had ever heard. The fast moving scene weaved past some large grim who were turning towards it. The young woman pushed the button hard, calmly saying. "Flash fire. Flash fire." That screen turned into static. What happened next would be forever cemented into Sienna Khans mind. A large command screen showed a bright flash that stayed for two full seconds before expanding in a dome of fire, then rising up in a massive fireball. "Shock wave, three, two. One." The same young woman declared.

The tanks vanished in dust and fire. The wave of dirt and wreckage reached out slamming into them rocking Command and Control. Monitors went static, then black for a few moments before clearing.

A mushroom shaped ball of fire rose into the sky, a ring of spinning fire formed around it, its speed and size sucking in dirt and grim, the circle of devastation was to her enormous. Compressed air was still rolling out as far as the cameras could see. Easily a mile around the center was utterly destroyed. Impossibly those tanks were moving forward, firing as they went. She felt the tremors from the huge guns firing. There were three large grim still in that devastation, staggered but standing. Sienna's eyes went round as they fell one by one, another breath weapon reached out hitting two of the heavy tanks, who kept driving through it. Then it was done.

The fireball was still rising into the sky a falling trail of dust and dirt connecting it to the ground, at least two miles up and rising, dust was everywhere and a large section of the forest was simply gone, swiped away by an angry hand. The din as these young adults cheered was infectious. She found herself smiling. Watching Isaac patting or giving a high five's and nodding his approval for a job well done.

Two light tanks retreated heavily damaged. One heavy fell back, going what someone called, Hull Down, only the turret and large barrel was exposed it maneuvered to one of their manufactured hills, its gun displayed in the yellow along with the front and left side tracks. Sienna gave that monitor a steady look, it showed all of these tanks, some with various degrees of damage. "Well that's about ten million to fix." Isaac muttered darkly. Then he seemed to shake himself speaking into a mike.

"Thumper can you get a laser lock on some of those grim on pod three?" He smiled. "Yes, once you're in the air." He clicked a switch box on his hip and started talking. "Over watch? Can you get all the drones in the air? We need precision on multi laser locks."

The third pod was slow. The massive grim within lumbering towards them. Five of the largest fell before they were within five miles. Behemoths and giants were cleared out just from misses aimed at the leviathans. Another twin rocket bombardment hit the pod dead center.

The pod started to loose cohesion under the constant bombardment, and shelling, the smaller and the faster ones started to spearhead. Control ordered the tanks to back up and keep firing. Soon pod three looked more like a line of grim coming at them.

"We have a seismic contact." A controller at the front end of the trailer announced. Sienna watched another controller ordering the entrenched units to evacuate, the two damaged tanks to get into a fallback position and show their good side. The medical units were ordered to bug out. As the bedlam of commands died down Sienna could feel it, a slight shaking. "I hate burrowers." Someone muttered.

"Anyone got a fix on where there coming up?" Isaac asked the room. No one answered. After what seemed like a minute a soft voice seemed to fill the room. "It's not burrowers, it's the hill." She pointed at her screen.

Sienna watched Isaac frown at the screen before barking orders. "All steel retreat, Lights turn and run, heaves keep firing but back up as fast as you can, everyone else dig in. That hill is an elder leviathan, a Kaiju, it's waking up." Then he stuffed a cigar into his mouth, which was batted away. "No! Bad kitty." A human said. Sienna was winding up when a female faunas caught the cigar and crushed it in Isaacs face. "You know the rules kitty, no smoking in control." She started smiling at his shocked face before flicking the remains at him and turning back to her counsel.

"This is a hermetically sealed environment. We have about three days of air before the scrubbers deplete, smoking burns them up a lot faster." A voice explained in her ear. Turning Sienna found it was the one who offered her a helping hand. A part of her knew if she had attacked that human he would have tried to stop her.

Control rocked a bit as the earth moved C&C drawing them back to the screens. Avalanches were rolling off the hill as something in it pushed slowly up. She felt herself gasping at the immense size of it. "Thumper, Drone control, find me a head, fast as you can, get any sensor we got on that thing and record at hyper tracking. Everyone else take those grim down! Reserve nothing."

Control became a bedlam of voices. Thumper even dove low distracting the Leviathans for the tanks and Howitzers, making it's self the target so they could get a good side shot on them. The pod of grim was shrinking quickly as the hill grew and moved. Isaac's quickly spoke into his mike. "Puff, relocate one mile, come at them from the east, drive as fast as you can, we get only one shot at this."

As the Kaiju rose up a rumbling dust storm flowed off it. An avalanche of trees and debris of epic size thundered down its hide as it sloughed off uncountable tons of earth. Isaacs voice cut past the chatter and rumbling. "I need every heavy in front of our support units, when it breathes it's going to be like the sun descended, I need you all to park em and go NBC until told to do otherwise, get everything else behind a hill or top hulled down, let control tell you where to shoot. Forward Howitzer dome yourself with no less then two hard light barriers, Supply get em what they need. We have less then three, maybe five minutes. Move." He quietly said.

Tanks quickly rolled up parking at an angle their cannons firing into the remaining grim. Close ups of the elder grim brought fear seeing it push up on skyscraper tall and city block wide limbs. Then it's head came up out of the ground scattering even more earth. Sienna was seeing that grim in every shade of the rainbow, UV Thermal everything they had, lasers kept distance and range the numbers flickering hundreds of feet as it sluggishly moved.

"Any soft spots?" Isaac asked leaning over one of the faunas. She shook her head. "Ok your our numbers expert, calculate our weapons speed vs distance and program it into every weapon you can, when we fire on that thing We need pin point accuracy, it all has to land at or near the same time. With puff just behind." She didn't ask any questions she went to work, taking over two screens a mass of data flowing across the board as she typed feverishly. Imputing tank and location, estimating distance and speed of round.

Isaac gave her space stepping back then reached for his smokes, thought better of it and started fidgeting like a nine year old. The elder grim began to turn. "Here it comes." Someone whispered.

Quiet descended on the room only some quick typing could be heard. The tanks, colored blue had turned their cannons away from the grim, everyone who was in the infantry was gone. Two domes were around the forward howitzer. "Got it." A female voice said.

Then the elder grim breathed. "Grab onto something!" Someone yelled. The wave of energy and fire that flowed out of that mammoth mouth was consuming everything it touched even the remaining grim. The viscosity was more like a pyroclastic flow with energy. C&C shifted with the impact. The command center screens went dark as the trailer rocked. Some screens still worked, the one's looking behind the trailer. What Sienna saw was a wall of fire like a blowtorch. The air inside started getting hotter as the breath ended.

"Get scanners online." Isaacs voice cut the quiet. The red cat looked at him, he seemed cold, disconnected even his voice was measured and exact. Control moved, opening an overhead hatch pulling a lever. Something exploded above them and someone stuffed an electronic device the shape of an oversized coffee can into the hole, closing the hatch. The monitors came quickly online.

Two light tanks were red on a previously unused screen. Sienna heard someone say. "No survivors. Two heaves were mostly red but could still fire. The howitzer crew was wounded but the gun fictional. There own trailer had yellow markings on it. "Another breath and it's over." Someone cursed. Isaac sighed then headed for the door. "Isaac, just where are you going? Your needed here." Sienna didn't know who the caller was she watched him stop as the thick door opened seeing shimmers of heat distorting the air as the heat entered the chamber. "What's the number one rule of Grims Bane?"

There was seconds of silence before everyone said in one voice. "The person is not important, the mission is." Isaac nodded somberly and walked down the steps. "That thing is like a dog, I'm going to lift its head. You have the ball." Then the door closed. All eyes turned back to the screens. Someone was tracking Isaacs movements as he crawled onto one of those large tanks. "He looks so small." Sienna said. "How?" She asked the room.

"Kit's got a crazy powerful semblance. One of the things that caused trouble in school. He kept telling the instructors there is no upper limit to aura or ones semblance. That these limits were all in our heads. That little cat can move over three hundred thousand tons of water, bet me that grim has water in it. He's going to lift it's head so we can throat shoot it." Sienna turned from the speaker and watched Isaac. All turrets were turning to the elder grim. "This is end game." Someone said.

"Puff? You still alive?" Asked Isaac. Moments passed before a static voice replied. "Still here, a little cooked. Ready at this end."

"Stand by." Someone called up Isaacs aura and health chart moving it into a long list some of which were colored red and yellow. "Ten dead over twenty wounded. Hope this works." A human whispered in the quiet room. "Tracking, got a good lock. Now." The new commander of Grims Bane said. Isaac looked like he wrapped an arm around something and with the other was prying something up. The elder grim had six legs, walking like an oversize'd crocodile complete with a tail still coming out of the ground tossing debris easily a fifth of a mile. It was turning to fully face them. Its head starting to lift.

"Slug throwers hope your packing sabot and thermal. Fire! Time on target." The command center rocked with the sheer volume of weapons firing around them Sienna saw Isaacs vitile spiking with the effort he put out, his aura dropping quickly "Fire!" She yelled slapping a switch. Someone zoomed in on that elder grim. Chunks of stone and flesh pealed off falling hundreds of feet, compared to the size, everything looked like popcorn sized flashes hitting it. The missile came into view moments later its flight taking it just under the chin. A small streak showed up for just a moment leaving a cloud behind it, then again white filled the screen's. The last thing anyone saw was Isaac wrapping a silver blanket around himself and crouching behind the heavy tanks turret. The fireball bloomed in a red dome, this time the blast was partly blocked as something large was raised off its feet. "Keep firing.!" It seemed to Sienna a futile gesture, accuracy in a wind that strong was a daydream.

The fireball streaked upwards as the elder grim was raised up by two legs, it seemed to slowly fall, an illusion made by the size of it, simply immense. The ground rumbled when it hit, a wave of earth coming at them like waves of water heading for shore. C&C rocked almost falling onto its side. Anyone not buckled into their seat was tossed about the room. Someone was yelling over the noise of moving earth asking if it was dead.

Another voice cut the room as the blast relented. "HT3 do not move your turret. Isaac is laying there, you will pinch him if you move, someone get out there." One from the howitzer crew came running over, sliding him off the tank pitching the kid on his back. "Burned, but still alive. Going to drop him off in medical."

Thumper had crashed staying in the air to add there fire power to the one shot, and was system testing before they could fly. " Could it be only stunned?" Someone asked. "Well? Keep shelling its head then." Sienna heard a copy that and again the massive rounds headed down range. Heavy tanks moved forward keeping to hills for cover seemingly not in a hurry to reach their positions. Minutes passed as a crew cobbled together another drone before it took to the air, it seemed to take its time reaching that grim. It lay on its side, black smoke rising by the head, it was odd to watch, but the elder grim seemed to be smoking like a fuse. As if the rest of it didn't know the head was gone.

The lower jaw had been completely blown off along with part of the neck. Thermite still burned where the shells had penetrated. There smoke adding to the grims. Sienna found a place to sit and let the tension drain out of her. "If I had not seen this with my own eyes." She whispered. She heard the C&C members chattering like background geese, gathering the wounded, surveying the surround, making sure if any grim survived. After about an hour someone called an all clear, to stand down.

Sienna lifted her scroll trying to make a call. Finding C&C was like a faraday cage she had to exit to call the White Fang letting all know the fighting was over. It was a surprised to her finding it was night, well past ten. Grims Bane monitors had hidden that fact. She stepped down into the heat and glass, the melted dirt crunched and broke under her feet, everything that had stayed was burned, steel melted and twisted. One of the light tanks had fire shooting out of two hatches that had blown open.

Half the crew went to stretch and eat. They had one hour to do so. Those who were left cleaned weapons and restocked. To Sienna they acted like combat was still going on and not nearly over, behaving like they were only in a lull.

Sienna found Isaac in medical wrapped up in bandages sedated to the gills mumbling that she was pretty, while their healer tended to the more grievously wounded. The red cat half smiled. Their doctor was a semblance healer with a staff of doctors and aura donors to keep her going. She could have worked anywhere and been paid well for it, but stayed, believing in the dream. Thirty three wounded with ten dead she was told. Sienna nodded grimly to herself, what she was paying them seemed small compared to the benefits she would have, they had paid the heaver price.

Khan walked back to the White Fang buildings the time allowed her to review events and settle her mind. This incident had taken an unexpected turn, how long had that elder leviathan, or Kaiju Isaac had called it, been there? It was a hill, an entire hill. The thing standing on its legs had to have been over a thousand feet tall. It made her half fear the earth it's self. That something could grow so large.

She stopped looking back at Grims Bane, a slow realization solidifying itself into her mind. They had killed it, a never before seen grim of ancient origin. A kid commanding them made it possible. She half smiled shaking her head saying with conviction. "The world has become a strange one."

Hearing the reports Khan found some buildings had earth quake damage, some windows blown out, a flimsy shed had collapsed, one of the bullheads was laying partly on its side, and needed repair on the wings and landing pads. Anything loose was blown away or pushed into a building. A simple matter to clean up and get repairs going. She wanted to assign Adam to organize a party to survey the new land once Grims Bane declared it clear, but he had returned to Vale.

She wanted to find dust they could mine, farmland they could use, intending to build from scratch a new city by the White Fang for faunas, but for now, it had been a long day, and the adrenalin was wearing off, so she turned in.

The next day Sienna Khan awoke to the sound of a jet engine. Opening her eyes she couldn't help but mutter darkly. "Thumper." With annoyance, nothing made sounded anything like it. It roared over her encampment heading back to Mavideniz she assumed. Rolling out of bed she made ready for the day.

It didn't take long to find the entire enclave was awake. Once repairs were underway Khan was heading for the Grims Banes camp, Sienna wanted to know what they were up to. Two vehicles were taken to drive into the Banes encampment. As she and her guards stopped they found some of the camp had been packed up for transport.

Two of the smaller tanks were chinned down to a heavy flatbed, their blackened and twisted steal a testament to the cost they paid. One had its turret half blown off as the ammo inside had cooked, exploding within the tank. There were no bodies to bury, they had all been incinerated. Four other tanks showed extreme damage, enough that they could not return under there own power. The area around the camp was bad. Burned, turned to partly glass. The damage was at least a mile wide and it seemed close to eight long.

The medical tent was empty of wounded, Sienna found Thumper had taken the wounded back to Mavideniz. Isaac could not be found, he had recovered and with others was picking over the land, trying to find any grim. With not much to do around the camp Khans vehicles slowly made their way out into the destruction driving towards that body of the huge grim, a wide pillar of black smoke was still drifting off it hours after it's death.

Sienna could hear her escort gasping and mumbling as they approached. "Still want to fallow Adam? Attack Grims Bane?" She couldn't help but comment as they exited the vehicle. "You think this is freighting, you should have seen it when it was alive." There gaping expressions and for some, there shame was all Sienna needed to know her point had been driven home.

They found a part of Grims Bane spraying the body down with a smelly chemical. The High Leader stared then frowned disturbed as sections of the Kaijus body bubbled and dissolved. Some were starting small fires with a bulldozer pushing the forests wreckage around so it burned. Tanks towed containers and using a flamethrower were casting large streamers of oily fire into the grims body, which seemed to somehow keep burning. One of the Tanks fired into the grim. "I have questions." Sienna Khan stated blandly.

It took them getting vague directions, twenty minutes to find the young faunas. He was down in a cave. One of those large tanker trucks next to it and a thick hose trailed into the hole. "What's going on?" Sienna asked. She hated to ask a human, but that's all that were standing around, three guarding with one of those AA guns and two tending that tanker truck.

"Bunch of grim pools down there." He answered watching a measuring meter spin slowly telling him how much was left in the tank. "This stuff makes it so they can't spawn." Then he talked into his mike asking Isaac if he could come back to the surface, the boss was here wanting to talk to him. He nodded and turned off the pump. "Should be up in a few, there paring off to see if there's any more ponds down there."

"Are you saying grim spawn? How?" Sienna almost leaned into this human letting him know this was not a request. "Well, Isaac will explain it better, but we found by testing that grim can grow out of grim oil. With that big Kaiju over there there's a lot of grim pools that can and have sunk into the ground, smaller grim can grow from them." He stopped and leaned into the truck in a rather disarming way asked. "Haven't you ever wondered why grim can come back so quickly to a place where they were cleared out?"

"Hay!" Called out a young voice. "What brings you and your armed escort way out here?" Isaac asked. Then before Sienna could answer Isaac asked the operator. "You ok?" He nodded. "Your going to have to give our employer the whole grim respawing info dump." Isaac looked at Sienna then at the hole and seemed undecided. Then the operator starting to laugh. "Hay boss themes the brakes, ya can't hunt grim all the time."

He sighed and seemed to deflate putting a hand on his forehead in defeat. "Ok, short version is for every one hundred Beowolve sized grim in a zone you have to kill them over five hundred times to completely get rid of them. Now hear me out, back in camp I'll give you alive demonstration."

"Grim turn into dissipating dust or ash when they die, right? That ash can group into a droplet, which will spawn a small, I mean small Beowolve, that thing will grow into a big one in less then a week. After we guess a year grow bone spikes. That Kaiju over there, still smoking can with its body can spawn over a thousand colossus or two hundred leviathan grim in time. Thermite with an iron mix burns it." Waving an arm at a tank. He motioned to the tanker. "This gas were putting on and in it dissolves the flesh rendering this grim oil inert."

Isaac led the surprised Khan over to the group working on the Kaijus body and had a sample taken by shoving a container into drawing out some grim. They returned to the camp using a beaker in the medical tent. "Ok, now using this nothing happens, right? We found the grim needs to dissipate first before the respawning can happen." Isaac had the medical staff fetch him a small armored case. "Now this, is filtered grim, after it died." With an eyedropper he placed three into a beaker. Sienna and her escort collectively gasped or muttered angrily surprised at the newly formed Beowolve. With some ready alcohol they doused the baby grim it killing it. "Gas or fire, even strong alcohol is the only way to one shot these things."

He motioned with a thumb at the hill sized body. "This thing has got to go, the sooner the better. Thumper left with the causalities and is coming back with more gas and were going to use Thumpers jet wash to spray gas on this thing, I don't know how much this is going to take, but a combination of fuel, bulldozing un-burnt wood and burning it should help.

"I don't see any grim spawning around us." Khan stated flatly. Isaac pointed down. When Siennas eyes widened he nodded his head. "There's about a hundred people down there killing grim and sniffing out pools, when we find one, we gas it, so far if the cave sizes are an indicator, it seems all the larger grim were brought to the surface, which is good for us as the grim down there are young. Now my guess is who ever is guiding these grim intended to attack you soon and put all their eggs in one basket. Sienna turned and studied this hill of a grim, clearly seen even at this distance and sighed turning to Isaac she needed information and she hated asking for it.

As if reading her mind Isaac handed her a memory stick. "Everything we know about grim and how to kill them. Lab tests, the works." Then smiled at her surprised face. "Also how to make a sensor to find grim, and a blueprint for making electricity, using water pressure."

Khan looked at the chip in her hands. "How did you? I, I don't know what to say, this will make a huge difference in our lives." Isaac gave her a lopsided grin. "All part of the service when you hire Grims Bane. No offence to my troops, there more then great, but faunas I'm finding do get the short end of the stick, a lot more then I thought. We have one of these dams, it provides electricity to everything we have, but if you build one of these don't forget back up. As a central target, if it's destroyed everything downstream of it gets flooded and you will have no power, so build with backups, dust I found can sit for a long time if not needed."

It would be almost eight hours before Thumper returned. Everyone pulled back watching the craft dangle hoses a long ways from the craft and doing the equivalent of crop dusting the grims body. As expected the wash from the jet engines sprayed the gas over a large area. "Well it didn't catch fire, that's a plus."

As Thumper returned for more supplies. Isaac let Sienna Khan know this would be the last load, they were simply running out of gas, thermite and white phosphorous. Who could have believed a grim could get this big. Grims Bane was taking shifts so they could work around the clock, as night settled it seemed to Sienna Khan that the humans were not showing any difficulty moving in the dark.

Sienna noted the people wearing some strange eyewear. "To see in the dark." Isaac had told her, caves get black out dark, humans, even faunas can't see, this helps every one along. He explained. Sienna could only shake her head at his naivety, he just didn't understand this weapon in human hands would level the night time playing field. His thinking she knew was if it help kill grim it was good for all.

Soon they were back in C&C getting the total damage and inventory. Someone had estimated how much of the body remained and what it could create. Watch gave Isaac an update. "Isaac. I ordered a seismic survey team to head down here. Thumper is bringing them and the last of the fuel tankers. Three days after they arrive we should have a good lock on what's down there, also we have some people with earth semblances to help us move around." Isaac nodded then complemented them and headed for an empty chair.

Once sited he faced Sienna Khan. "What I see here is this is going to be a long term project, one Grims Bane can't complete, we simply don't have the money for it. We can supply you with people and the needed equipment to keep these grim that will respawn down there to a minimum. Send some people to our camp and the instructors will train your people to properly fight grim."

He sighed leaning back on the chair looking frustrated. "This is a mess." He scowled looking at his scroll he made an offer. "What I can also do is keep in touch, and send some tankers your way as I can with equipment to help your crew so this thing can be completely neutralized."

"You use this, fuel in your vehicles?" Khan asked. When Isaac nodded Sienna seemed to think for a bit. "I would like, and consider your task completed if we could get a blueprint of the engines you use with this fuel."

"You want to get away from using dust?" Isaac asked. Miss Khan nodded. "Enough to forgo training? Make your own equipment? This fuel is volatile, will vaporize under low tempters, the equipment to make it is complex, even automated it takes time to build."

"Are you saying we are incapable of making this fuel?" Isaac shook his head. "I'm saying you turn the wrong valve at the wrong time, or don't fallow strict safety procedures you will have an explosion that will make the ones you saw look small."

"This, fuel, is that dangerous?" Khan watch Isaac nod with tired eyes. "Why do you use it? And how do you keep your equipment from blowing up?" Sienna heard him sigh.

"Those two tanks they were more out in the open, didn't retreat far enough, so ya, breath clipped them, and it heated up the tank, fuel ignited, then the ammo, and it turned into a firecracker." He pushed back into his seat again. "That stuff is great for moving heavy equipment, a lot cheaper then dust, but unless you store it carefully and away from people, a good distance away, it's kind of useless, save for war."

Sienna looked away. studying the people in the C&C working at their tasks. It seemed to her that more faunas were here now then humans, yet she didn't want to pull the race card she knew Isaac would not accept the reasoning, he knew she wanted this for war, she had to find another way. Sighing she watched this young man child. "Ok, I can understand. Perhaps when you rid the world of grim?" Khan saw him smile with a slight nod.

"If you can send about ten, or fifteen who can stand being around humans, my crew are a good lot, but slights imagined or not could, will cause problems, particularly in the bars." Sienna smirked. "The idea of seeing you drinking is mind boggling." She smiled fully. Isaac shrugged. "Old enough to be killed hunting grim, old enough to drink and smoke." He snorted.

"Not in here." Someone retorted.

Sienna Khan turned the conversation to more practical things, what could her people expect to learn and how. Isaacs grin and someone saying welcome to grim week made her apprehensive. What he showed her was not only unconventional but practical. She left soon after to ask for volunteers. Posting the clips he had downloaded into her scroll what they would be learning and how.

Once settled in her office Sienna Khan called and sent one of her priests to Mistral. She instructed them to send low risk information gathering groups of her faithful to Mavideniz, settle there with there family's, and learn about, and how this equipment worked. They would work as support for Grims Bane until told to do otherwise. Sending information to her at regular intervals.

Five more days plodded by as Grims Bane cleaned house on the scattered grim. Selling the news footage to the media and collecting the bounty for an unprecedented kill count. The damaged tanks with light escort were taken back to Mavideniz. The fifty ton surveyor truck was finding caverns scattered under the Kaiju.

The Bane as the White Fang started calling them enlarged any small openings. They also found underground dust deposits and other resources Sienna Khan could use. Twenty or so White Fang members went to learn how to fight grim, becoming to Sienna's eyes strong warriors for it. The Bane made good there promise sending tanker trucks as they could to neutralize the forming pools and what was left of the Kaiju which would take almost six months to completely get rid of.

Some from other nations wanted to study the huge grim but refused to pay the steep price Khan was asking. Atlas bought samples but no one else. Grims Bane however was allowed full access to the body. Sharing new and insightful ways to permanently kill grim in any form.

A month had passed before the White Fang volunteers returned, telling stores of a never before seen grim capable of causing uncontrolled fear to it's victims, Bane called it simply SCP 015, by then the Kaiju looked more like a beached whale, flatting out like an over piled pancake, fires were continuously burning on and around it. It would take the White Fang another three months to burn the Kaiju and another two more to rid the underground and surround of spawn.

* * *

It just accrued to me that I need to explain what I have done to Remnant, or better said, changed on Remnant.

I have shoved the two continents of Anima and Sanus together, touching together calling them Anima so they didn't look like a mustard blob on a napkin, and I moved Menagerie farther north, it should, where it was, have the same temperatures as Solitas or Atlas, being at the twentieth parallel and all that, near or in the south polar area.

Also the planet is larger by +1 fifth so distances are farther and air is thicker for the same reasons.

The area for Ménage or the gateway to Menagerie as I call it would be at the south end of Anima where it's smashed up to Sanus, I left some southern islands, and Mavideniz is on the nub by the cove below and to the left of Vale. It's a four hour flight to Vale by heavy aircraft and to the White Fang, two hours flight to patch.

Last is dust: The planets mantel is made of dust I have not figured out how much, but a lot, enough to find it like we find oil. I say mantel as earth quakes and Volcano's in Remnant will make things interesting.

I do this because to say dust is from the moon is saying a very limited resource as most of the chunks of the moon seem to be in one of the Lagrange points. Then there is that pesky question's of why does dust not work above a certain height? How would dust survive hitting the planet like a flaming ball? That kind of stuff.


	7. Chapter 7

Despite the best efforts of the game Frostpunk and Subnautica Below Zero I have finished this portion, now I hope it doesn't finish me. Also, why is it I see my grammar fuckup's only after I post?

Anywho, This is the aftermath of that contract with Sienna Khan. The bodies, the repercussions, and the maneuvering of other city states as Grimms Bane holds there attention. Throw in a dash of legal kidnapping and you have a boring story that needs to be said.

* * *

**Home Again Home Again**

**Wars can be won, or lost without a single round being fired**

It had been almost a week after there battle with the Kaiju and a lot of events had happened, not earth shaking, but hard none the less. Isaac reflected on it all as he watched the wrecked tanks being craned into a deep hole. Once in position on an eight foot thick concrete pad they would place construction forms around it all. Entombing the tanks with reinforced rebar and concrete, a chemical mix was added to the concrete that would allow it to resist time based water damage. Then a thick rubber coating would be panted around that. Then stainless steel would be welded shut around the rubber. Once the whole thing had cured the memorial would be place on top of it with it's own foundation adding to the ever growing hole. A thick, long, black marble obelisk like wall about eight foot tall and four foot thick would be placed on top of the tanks.

Black with white flaked stone, he forgot the name of the marble, just knew where it came from, somewhere by Minstrel in a mountain quarry. It would curve slightly along its length.

Isaac sighed he disliked building this thing for Grimms Bane. Yet. This would happen again he knew. People will die. They had kicked who ever was guiding these things right where it counted and sooner or later there would be a price.

The monument was made so that sections could be added at a latter date to make room for new names, it could be just over a hundred feet long when fully completed. There would be at that time over five thousand names. Then a new one would be made. He had the blue prints on how it would be built, large enough for over twenty thousand names, and how it all would look when done, a rendering in CGI but he admitted, it should be nice looking. Sighing anew Isaac's thoughts drifted.

So far all they knew is whoever controlled these grim, had a female face. SCP 008 it seemed was also a communication device. It made sense, to spy, someone would have to see what was around them. Isaac thought the thing was telepathic, one way, and could communicate at distance, but this? It could allow two way communication, could grim be verbally directed? That meant grim could understand ideas and concepts. Or was this for the woman's allies? That made him grind his teeth a bit frustrated. There was people in his old world that did that, sided with an idea, some even worshiped, willingly, the SCP's.

They had trouble containing 008 at first. 008 would die within hours after being caught, but by placing it in the dark, compressed in a enforced clear containment beaker, anchored in place the air around it thick with smoke, it lived on. Their infrared and ultraviolet monitors had caught a face on the surface of 008, distorted by the curve and bone plates, but still a face. She had turned her head as if looking around before vanishing. Isaac sighed knowing he could not let this one go public until he had more, soon he would have to deal with Ozpin and his gang. Oapin had hidden himself, no mean feat in such a high tech society, so he should know, or have a lead, if nothing else have some history about this woman, but that was for a latter time, so he refocused on the present.

He had paid for this monument to the dead, and it had left him almost broke, but it seemed the vary least he could do for them. The large words near the center top would be filled in with white stone. The massage simply said. The Honored Dead. Below that in gold leaf were the names of the eleven, another had died from her wounds a day later. On it would be the date they were born, and when they died. He had made it like the one from his old world, save there they never displayed the names of the D class.

Isaac had opted to bury the crew in the tanks they died in, becoming the foundation of Grims Bane memorial. He liked the symbolization. The crew had been incinerated at over a thousand degrees. There was simply nothing left. The young hybrid faunas looked down at the ground remembering how one tank had it's turret partly blown off and the other, you could see the melted inside's, the armor had been eaten away by the Kaiju, the ammo explosions, and the flames. The last one to die was buried behind the obelisk to be in a tended field, he hoped the memorialized grave site would not get too large. Yet he could half imagine himself out there one day. That morbid thought made him smile, a better end then being dissected to see what killed you and then cremated in an industrial kiln. To be shoveled out when it became too full.

Everyone here had passed the hat, three of the eleven had brought their family's to Mavideniz. Giving them the bad news was never easy. It always stung seeing them break down into tears, or stagger, trying to catch there breath. Two of the family's had moved out as soon as the payment for the mission was in the bank, the life insurance which all the Bane had topped them out at over a million each, so there was that at least. Still it felt hallow. "Guess some things never change. No mater where you are." Isaac told the wind. Letting his mind wander into the resent past.

Less then a day had passed when the reporters descended on the camp and town in mass, most wanted a free recording of the firefight. Or an exclusive with any member they could get. Bane had sold the footage as an exclusive to a 3D station. So the rest got the cut and dry condensed version in a one shot info dump. Then three more days passed and Sienna Khan made good on sending Grimms Bane some of her people.

Two former trainers at the hunters board from Patch were in charge of the instructors for the recruits. One did combat and the other aura. It made him reflect. It seemed once these ideas took off, the adults did a better job then him, it was a harsh reminder that even with all his knowledge he was still more or less average as a person. These two hunters had already passed him in skill for training other hunters. This made his job easier but Isaac felt a kind of melancholy, a sadness or jealousy that he didn't have a hand in it, or wasn't needed anymore.

The experiments in the lab yielded less and less each day, now long term tests were being done, and sometimes what they did to the grim was just out right weird stuff. But once everything was set up Isaac found a lot of free time to see to the memorial and train, generally catching up on the world. As the month passed he had hooked up with, well. The Bane called them buzz bodies. Isaac called them information gathers. Spies if you will.

This group of over two dozen were clannish and got into everything, nothing it seemed was too small not to investigate. Hyper active and easily bored, these people were into the whole lot. Some of what they found was insightful. Like the sudden drop in the numbers of hunters in Minstrel, nothing official, but when your gone for over eight months on a simple find and bring home a missing person, or hunt down a grim, well, face it, there dead.

The fact the headmaster of that military institute in Mantel had not formally posted the failed mission's peeked the curiosity of three of them enough that they traveled to get a better understanding. A faunas called Leo something or other, was head of that academy and they didn't want to talk to him. There healthy paranoia said he was deliberately avoiding the situation so they wanted to talk to the daughters, the brothers, the mothers and fathers. The places they hung out at, and friends they had, and of course the hacker of the group wanted to get into the private records of the hunters, as well as the academy's files, in general everything that looked interesting.

Isaac recalled what he had found out with the resident hacker's help. The city of Vale was giving them difficulty receiving phosphorus for the thermite mix used in there explosive shells and missiles. The load out for the up and coming puff gun ship would be huge. The bureaucrat's in Vale were putting up all kinds of unnecessary and almost illegal trade blocks, mostly having to do with the anonymity of Mavideniz East. It was pretty clear after the Buzz gave there report that Vale was trying to get the town to concede they were a provenance or county of Vale, to smooth the way for business transactions. The darker side was Mavideniz would be subject to Vale's laws, ideologies, and wants, which were changing concerning hunters, all for the bad.

From bounties to weapons allowed, some limitations were restrictive depending on age. The Grimms Bane as a group were rightly upset about it and had talked with each other and had an unofficial vote to be there own nation, which was met with a lot of enthusiasm for the younger crowd. An executive statement by one of the, what Isaac called a leach, a type of political legal representative formally declared Mavideniz East and West an independent country in response to what Vale had done. Vale was using their needed shipments as leverage in a quiet war one of the Buzzers had said. Now Isaac had to find a way around them. They could get shipments from other locations, but the cost was almost double to do it.

The hunters board was a international institute whose member's drew from the same deep pockets, providing transportation, medical and dust to the certified hunters and payment for grim killed. All of that would, if Vale had their way, provide less and less coin per bounty. Simply put what Vale wanted was the more grim you killed the less you received. This board governing Vale was also proposing weapons and equipment restrictions. To Isaac the board was trying to disarm hunters, these rules were hidden in a complex list of conditions and items, which unless examined closely stood a good chance of passing come the public vote.

The governing body of Vale didn't stop there. The propaganda they vomited was painting Grims Bane as a more military organization then a hunters union. This information was used to drive fear into the common people. Using what they called a deep concern about Grimms Banes true intent. Using that dubious statement as a weapon to limit, for public safety reasons, the size of the unit's for missions. If you bypassed any one item, didn't do things by the book, the fines effected your reward which would in the end be almost seventy percent gone. If they passed the motions.

One Buzz with the weirdest colored hair Isaac had ever seen gave him a contact to see. Handed him a false ID and a forged medical card saying Isaac was a victim of a time crystal accident. More true then he knew. A kit to disguise Isaac which had made him laugh when he saw the outfit. He would look more like a midget then young.

Isaac was to talk to someone called Jr. for a smuggling operation so Grims Bane could get the chemicals they needed, but he stressed to Isaac to do this after Taiyang talked to him. Which would be in about two days from now. Telling Isaac his girlfriend had told him to let him know that Tai would be coming and to wait. Then he giggled insanely and with a skip scampered off. Leaving Isaac wondering what happy pills he had gotten into.

Isaac spent the next day and part of the second reading up on Jr. Studying city streets and utility maps. The configuration of his night club. The Buzz as always would given him overkill in information even Jr's family and friends were in there. What resources Jr. had, and what the man would most likely want as payment. Isaac as he read had a strange ugly flash recall, this was like trying to get a flack jacket back home just before a mission, a lot of barter and moving in the shadows. In his old home. The D class had there own economy, there own underground if you will.

**Arrival**

Isaac was waiting by the towns simple landing pad's as the bullhead touched down at East Mavideniz. Tai exited with a rather stern look about him, without a word Tai pulled from a shoulder case some papers and handed them to Isaac. Then pragmatically told him. "Your now Isaac Able Cane Xiao Long." Isaac blinked then blinked again. After three or so more seconds Tai smiled almost ear to ear. "You should see your face. Made my day."

Taiyang draped an arm over his shoulder leading Isaac away from the aircraft as Isaac read. Explaining to him in a rather serous tone. "This is to keep the autocrats off you, I was given a heads up by this crazy rainbow haired woman, who handed me these adoption papers along with some interesting information and instructions. She said if I didn't adopt you the government was going to forcefully place you in an orphanage and keep you there until you became an adult."

Isaac came to a surprised, jarring, dead stop. "What the flaming fuck?!" He waved the papers at Tai to emphasize his point. "The Buzz are right, there is some kind of shitty silent war going on, these fuckers want me to just lay down and take it?" Tai shrugged getting a seriously familiar look on his face that made Isaac go quiet and gulp. It was like having a Level 3 pissed off at you.

"First, as my son I don't like it when you cuss, so knock that off, right now, or I will by law and affiliation as your parent be able to take you home, to patch, permanently." He stressed, the slight smile on Tai's face confused Isaac he wasn't sure if he was being candid or making a joke. "You are out here now by my permission." Isaac after staring somewhat shocked riffled to the end of the paperwork and found his signature. One that he never signed. He could only stare at it. Even his line jitters were there. He looked stunned saying to the paper. "I'm, family?"

Tai with a slow returning smile again put an arm around Isaacs shoulder leading him as they walked. "Yes you are. Consider this your second chance." After a few steps he added quietly, and quite seriously. "Come tomorrow your going to get an early visit by the Anima Department of Children and Families Services. They're going to retrieve you and place you in foster care. As Anima is not recognizing Mavideniz as an independent city, let alone country. Well they will try. Then a sub department, its a licensed mental health organization. Which if that woman who gave me the original adoption paperwork is right, already have the formalities written up that will allow them to keep you institutionalized and heavily medicated for most of your life as a special needs person."

When Isaac looked up Tai sounded more like he was making a vow. "I am going to be here with you, and make sure nothing happens to you." He steadied Isaac as he started to stagger adding a last bit of information. "Ironwood is doing me a favor, and is keeping the originals in a safe place. These are a notarized copy."

"It's like Signal Academy all over, but with a more vicious side to it. Someone's hunting me." Isaac said with surprised realization. Tai nodded saying nothing more. Isaac caught, even in his befuddled state, that fleeting look on Taiyangs face. _"He knows who, or someone who knows, but is keeping quiet about it."_

Isaac looked over the new town that seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds, the huge defensive walls in the making that you could see at a distance, another set that held the grim they practiced with, the gunnery range and weapons yard filled with tanks trucks, tankers everything one needed to fight a war. The reinforced walls of the munitions stockpile and the assembly yard with that huge smelter that processed the steal they needed.

Isaac reflected on the mines they co owned, now there were three dust, two iron and his oil deposit, and the export cash they brought in was putting Mavideniz on the map as more then just a place to buy fish and raw lumber, new exports were steal and raw dust, next year there would be farming and crops, someone he heard wanted a fruit farm. Grimms Bane had secured a vast area of land, had made it free of grim, the founders owned thousands of acres each due to taking part in clearing out the grim, everything here was growing, and quickly.

Isaac had to admit he kept saying the grim are guided. and now it seemed that guiding force was becoming focused on him. He had theorized the grim had a hive mind, as medical scans had shown a slightly less dense more oily section where the brain would be. Kind of like the oil in a whales head. But now. With this. That face. It seemed he was dealing with a group who was far more aware and cunning then he first thought, it made his hair stand on end. Someone was moving in the shadows, and it was after him. "They want to stay in the shadows." He muttered realizing the importance. "To keep everyone in the dark? No open war. Why?"

"Is this your home? Here?" Tai asked. Isaac blinked, again off balance. He had walked in a daze almost a mile into the compound where he had built his home, from the tent to hovel to foundation, to house. "Uh, ya.,um, let me, get the door." As he unlocked it Tai asked. "With all the electronics and that key card around your neck, why use a mechanical lock?" Opening the door Isaac let Tai walk in first fallowing and haphazardly answering.

"Electronics can be hacked, keycards copied, physical security is used to let us into the lab, then these keys are used to move around, and only to designated rooms. The magnetic locks only work if there's power, without electricity they default into the locked position. Everything we do tries to prevent insurgency and the spread of any program virus. Key locks like this need more then bobby pins to open, the tumblers are heavy, yet the opening is too narrow to put anything else in, there almost lock pick proof."

Isaac went quiet, suddenly having an overwhelming feeling of guilt as Tai looked the place over. It took using a mental discipline that resisted Mnemonic influence to get himself refocused. "I can set up something in the guest room, more a futon then bed, but it's all I got, for now." He started getting a lopsided grin on his face, an I can't believe I'm saying this look. "Dad." He saw the startled look on Tai posture, then he recovered and grinned back. "Is it so hard to believe? Son?" They each stood there trying to see who was going to laugh first. It was Isaac who ended it with a smirk. Tai made a motion with a finger like he was keeping score.

"This is, strangely exciting." Isaac confessed seeing a lot of opportunities opening up. Tai gave him a smile that said you have no idea. "Wait until Yang gives you the older sister routine. Rubys going to love it seeing her dot on you, you are the youngest after all."

Isaac made a whoa slow down motion with his hands. "Now, let's not get carried away on this kid stuff." Tai rebutted with a uncaring shrug.

"Not up to me, but as you have said your thankful for a second chance. Why not take advantage of it? After all, your only young twice." Then he started laughing at his own joke. Isaac groaned as if hit. Then as his mind kicked into gear.

"Just a tick, you told them?" Isaac asked surprised. "Yangs not, you know, angry about it?" Tai found a chair and sat waving a hand. "She was surprised. Now I think she's readying puns and jokes to spring on you. Ruby bounced with her usual joy finding only the good." Tai leaned forward. "I sure am parched from that long walk." Isaac almost bounced quickly stumbling over the words a host to a guest should use. "Oh, ya, I got water, soda, and beer, I think some whisky."

"Beer." Tai said almost sadly as Isaac nodded and quickly left. "Not to hound you on drinking, but your organs are still developing, and the drunk you get is the body's reaction to poison. Have you tried plants?"

Isaac came back with two beers explaining to Tai. "That leaf is expensive, and I hear it makes you overeat." He handed one to Tai and sat in the chair across from him before opening the can and taking a long draw. "I'm kind of glad you're here, maybe I can finish off this six pack, I've had the thing for about five months now." Then he smirked a bit at Tai.

"Well, not to often then? That's a start." Tai agreed.

They relaxed and started talking. The conversation drifting from one subject to the next. Tai giving him an update on what happened at Signal after he left. Tai noted Isaac kept away from there mission with the White Fang not even giving a vague hint until he realized Isaac was messing with him in a kind of predatory relaxed way. So he asked. Saw the fight, the edited story and the Kaiju, learned what they were doing with it. He found the dust being shoved into grim intriguing.

"So your saying the longer dust stays in the grim the more it changes the lattice structure?" Isaac nodded.

"We get some strange almost esoteric results, but one thing is standard those crystals become more potent, by that I mean powerful enough to blow apart a weapon, freeze a room, or power the building just using a standard round of the stuff. Red Black dust seems to drain aura, but only shows up now and again, were going to catch 010 uh, some monkey grim, or ape, gorilla, what ever there called. Try crystallization on them, see if it changes into something different."

"How do you catch or even control something that powerful?"

"Cut, or rip off the arms and legs to capture. Metal bars to hold the body, belly to the wall, and more steel to hold the mouth open, a robot arm to shove the dust in." Isaac answered almost casually.

"Don't they?" Tai asked. Isaac understanding shook his head.

"Nope, takes splitting the body in two, cutting off the head, or a massive blow to the center chest area to kill them for some reason. Be nice if all ya had to do was take a leg or knock a chip off them." Isaac gave a sigh and called up a program displaying what he was talking about in 3D.

"All the MRI's we've done to grim show there is nothing inside, hel.. Uh, some are even slightly hollow, have a void in the center, yet they can eat things, what little we have fed them shows it goes to making the grim larger, stronger, even regenerates limbs, but it takes about a day plus for that to happen. Oddly grim don't go after live pray, they will eat a dead one, but just stare at a live one, unless it attacks them."

"Your crew do some brutal experiments." Tai commented his minds eye seeing cute cuddly puppies in a grim cage, finishing his beer he added. "Not that its any concern, the knowledge you've given to the world has upped the killing of grim across the globe.

"It's spreading that fast?" Isaac asked astounded. I just let that info out after the Khan contract. "Uhm, want another?"

Tai nodded, letting him know some people have written assays on the data. "You are making a huge impact, and just a soda this time." Tai almost smiled at Isaac when he brought the glass to him, he seemed excited, like a kid at a birthing day party.

"It's good to know the information is spreading so fast, but these crystal experiments, could ya keep quiet about the subject? With people taking a strong interest, they can captured there own grim, for training if nothing else, and could easily duplicate what we're doing." With a smile Isaac switched gears. "Now Grimms Bane needs to prepare for the next assault on us." Tai frowned concerned at the relaxed nature Isaac held.

"Well." Tai began. The bureaucrats tried to exile you from becoming a hunter, now I hear on the news that the newly purposed laws for hunters are being geared at restriction mostly. Then there's this adoption, so what else is there? Other then a frontal attack? What are you thinking about?"

"The friendly foe." Isaac nodded with conviction. "The one who comes up letting you know, as a friend and guide, what's best for you. The influencer." Tai stared across the room and sighed. Taking a few gulps from the soda.

"Kind of like Ozpin?" Isaac asked. Tai watched him a bit before sighing again.

"I was thinking, your world, fighting as you have done, sometimes just for another breath. What will you do? Once all the grim are all gone? You'll be older and it kind of saddens me to know that even given this second chance, you still can't be a child, even with how smart you are, emotionally speaking."

"Can't afford to. Lot's to do and no real time to do it all." Isaac answered crisply.

"From what I'm seeing, and been told. There's a lot of people who know as much or more, now that they have an out side the box view on fighting grim. This is something that has a life of it's own now." Tai shifted in his seat explaining in a mater a fact way. "You could walk away, anytime, and this would still continue, so." Tai leaned forward asking simply. "Can't you just be, a child? Let some of the tension go, if even if for a short while?"

Isaac looked like he wanted to say something. Instead looked down at the beer can.

Tai stood walking over to him and tried to hold him. Isaac squirmed trying to get away. Tai spoke in an almost whisper "Shhh, your safe, this is not your old world, your safe." Isaac made a sputtering noise. "Why are you, pushing this? I'm not some kid, who had a bad fall."

Tai smiled sadly. "No, your not, but. I've lived with you for months. I am outside, looking in. What I see is someone who never was a child, holding onto the only thing he knows. Now. I may not be your birth father, and this may be selfish on my part, but I have looked on you as my son, one I never got the chance to have. So? Can you tell me why? Why do you hold on so tight, restrict yourself so, never letting go, when you don't need to, not any more. Compared to your old world this one is safe."

Isaac stopped squirming and looked down, sputtered, a gasp, not a word came out even as he tried to talk, and instead started crying. "Because." He gasped holding back tears. "Because it hurts, to remember, to feel. Every memory is garbage, from the time I knew I was alive. Constant degrading, belittling. It just hurts, so much." He tried and failed descending into a half halfheartedly held back full blown balling. Isaac let Tai hold him sputtering. "nNo, were not safe, no one is. Something, something is out there, something with a face." He started sniffing for breath then bent forward a soul cry coming from him, all the rubbish he had endured wanted out. There was nothing more to distract him no discipline he could muster, no silent acceptance of his lot in life. Tai had blocked those path's with his questions, and the long suppressed memories came out in a flood.

As all emotions go they all eventually end, as did Isaacs. Isaac had cried himself to sleep in his arms. The older man couldn't help but smile. Picking him up he took Isaac to his room took off his shoes and covered him in a blanket. He didn't dare do more. That act, it would shatter this light trust he had shown.

If Goodwitch was to be believed. Isaac had killed a man at the age of fourteen who had sexually victimized him for almost ten years, and in a rage killed almost forty others as well. That mass murder is why he became a prisoner. It made sense why he was always angry at Qrow. He is uncle to Ruby and Yang, and he drinks.

Looking over the room Tai knew Isaac had never really left his SCP prison, his room reflected it. Simple and spartan. A small bed, a few books, no 3D entertainment anywhere in the home, no games, only computers for data gathering, it looked hollow, empty to him, not as a home should look. It was like the boy was just visiting. It was almost like he didn't want to leave much behind, to not be a burden to others when he was gone. Tai left the bedroom closing the door quietly.

The guest room was more a light storage room Tai made enough room to lay the bed out and found the blanks and sheets where they logically would be. After he went to the back yard, small as it was, little more then a place to park a car, which there was none. Pulling out his phone Tai made a call. She picked up on the second ring. Smiling Tai asked. "Hay. How's life treating my sunny dragon?"

"Pretty good, had some problems with Weiss and Blake but straightened it out, so all good." Then her tone changed to almost gleeful. "So how's the youngest doing? Bawl himself to sleep yet?" Tai gave a short laugh. "Ya, he did, talking to him straight and direct did a number on him, and he's sleeping it off right now." Yang perked up her voice becoming light, all but singing. "Told ya, sis played that on me years ago, every time we got real she would try to distract herself and avoid facing her feelings."

"I did not!" Ruby yelled in the background.

Yang continued as if Ruby hadn't said a word. "So, it was easy to see through Isaac, he just got hurt and, then really hurt, it's a start, I think he just need's to let it out."

"Sis!" Ruby protested at being ignored.

"Shhhh. The grown ups are talking." Yang rebutted. Tai counted to three before he heard Ruby saying "You are not." then Yang grunted. "Pillow?" He asked. "OH, Ya! Gata go Dad, give are psycho brother our love and if Ruby doesn't live, I'm sorry." Then she hung up. Tai looked at the scroll and chuckled. "Never change you two, never change."

Going back in Tai ticked of a mental list on what needed to be done to make this a home and not just a place to sleep, settling down he went through the adoption papers then referred to the notes he's lawyer had given him on what to expect from Children's Services. He wondered how far they would push this. Hoping his precautions were up to the task before sighing and settling down for a fitful sleep.

He woke at just after three in the morning hearing the shower going. "Another bad dream of a drunk coming home after the bar closed." Tai darkly said to the night.

Fostering Isaac had allowed Tai to know what the shrinks were learning about him. Other then the SCP's missions one of the traumas was his real fathers abuse, sometimes dragging him out of bed in the middle of the night to complete some chore he had not done, beating him and screaming on how useless he was. Yelling insults until he finished the chore. Yet to drunk to tell if Isaac had finished.

Here that would get his father a prison term, but on his own world it was considered a domestic problem. It kind of made sense, that world was too busy trying to stay alive. The result for Isaac was sleepless nights around closing time, compounded by abuse from his uncle for over a decade, leading to murder, then prison. Then a new life filled with threatening events that were the stuff of horror movies.

The boy, even if he is time wise a man. To Tai, Isaac was a shell of shattered dreams. He needed time, time to get his bearings, to heal, be a kid with all the simple emotions, be a survivor, not a mentally disciplined soldier. Marching on with little to look forward to save a quick death. "That's no way to live." Tai muttered.

Tai shifted in the bed and listened for the shower to end. Hearing Isaac head back to his room and settling in for the rest of the night.

Morning breakfast was in a chow hall. The cheep meal had all the substance needed for a high calorie day of extreme activity. Tai found he could barely finish half before they left. Then Isaac introduced him around. They found half the camp knew he had been adopted by Taiyang. "Quite the gossipers." Tai commented.

"Nothing is safe in Grimms Bane." Isaac boasted with pride Tai noted.

They took a quick tour of the labs and then the grounds before hearing over the intercom that Children's services had arrived. Then the announcer added quietly, with armed escort. Tai blinked a bit surprised. "So, there really doing it." He could hear it, or lack of it. It seemed the camp, the normal bustle of hundreds of people, slowly, and quietly stopped. Those in eye sight were looking at them. "Well, let's get this over with." Tai told Isaac, again taking his shoulder and leading him to the landing pads.

"Wow. Talk about high noon at the O-K." Isaac whispered. Tai nodded. There were three from Children's Services. They were the only ones in business clothing. The other six were armed, in armor, and looked like they would take no bullshit.

A smartly dressed woman in a power suit seemed to be the boss here as she was the first to step forward. "Are you Isaac Able Cain?" She asked crisply. Isaac shook his head. She then took from her briefcase and held up a photograph of him. "Could you explain why you look so much like this faunas?" She asked. Tai could feel Isaac tensing up at the word faunas. The way the woman approached them was more like a program identifying a user.

"My sons name, miss or mam, is Isaac Able Cain Xiao Long." Tai told her. She didn't miss a beat in her response. "I have not been informed of any adoption proceedings concerning this child. May I see the papers?" Tai again pull the required paperwork from his shoulder bag. Letting her know she could keep the copy.

She looked over the documents with a trained eye of one used to finding errors in applications before looking up and asking for the originals. Tai informed her they were in safe keeping and the one she held was notarized by three lawyers. "I would prefer to see the originals." She stated. When she learned they were not at this location she laid down what was going to happen.

"Until I can see the originals I must, as I have not been notified of this adoption, which would have saved me a long trip to Mavideniz. So I must assume that this is in question. Until proven otherwise I will be, as per our laws sequestering Isaac Able Cain pending the originals. Please call us for an appointment, when the original document is available." The two in suits to her side moved forward.

"This is nothing short of a kidnapping." Tai told her. His voice was that of a professor, controlled and accurate as he continued. "This was anticipated so the document has been notarized and is signed by three approved lawyers." It was enough to stop the two suits.

"Please." The woman said somewhat irritated. "I am Ms. Shtapan Head of Children's Services. I would know if any document even remotely like this had come across my desk."

Tai smiled showing a lot of teeth. "I am honored, that the head of Children's Services, with armed escort would take from her important work schedule the time to come so far to pick up one young faunas." Tai shifted more in front of Isaac. "You do not approve of every, or even some of these adoption documents, your job is to see to any major problems that come to Children's Services, to in effect be a CEO of a corporation. With that in mind you have little to do when it comes to adoption paperwork. So. Are you telling me. That my son is to be taken, from me? On a maybe?"

"Mr. Xiao Long. Are you with all this misdirection interfering with my duties? This faunas happens to be a known name, the death of that monstrous grim traveled across the entirety of Remnant almost in the same day. If there were any adoption papers concerning this child I would know. The father and or mother would become an all but common name to the public. Your deception, no matter how well done, will be found out and proven as false. You will then be prosecuted to the full extent of the laws. Do. I Make. Myself Clear? Now, Mr Xiao Long, stand aside."

"First this was done quietly in Patch, to avoid that kind of public lime light. The last thing Isaac and me need is reporters hounding us. Enough reporters I learned came to this camp, becoming disruptive to Grimms Bane. Also as a point of note, I have fostered Isaac for months, so almost all of the goals needed to adopt were and had been met. As for a deception or fake I will remind you that due to Vale pressuring Mavideniz all here declared it's self an independent nation, not subjected to agreed upon laws by Anima, or for that matter any nation of Remnant. You may make your protest here, not take Isaac away to parts unknown, then tell me the paperwork was lost."

Tai could feel Isaacs aura building. "Don't." Tai whispered. Looking down on him. "I will not go into the dark, like chattel." Isaac gritted back. He had seen the escorts body posture change, he had witnessed that before, in to many missions where the survivors had to be killed. Though there faces were covered. The stance, and bearing was the same.

"I know." Smiled the woman eyeing Isaac. She made a motion with her arm. The guards raised their weapons. "Well?" She asked.

"This is an execution!" Isaac yelled. "You have no intention of even taking me to Children's Services. You're a scam!"

"No." She responded. "You are insane, and resisting, also you by your own acts displayed in the news, are an extremely dangerous faunas." Then she pointed a single finger at Isaac. The armed escort fired. Tai involuntarily moved completely in front of Isaac bracing his aura to tank the rounds.

It was a quiet few seconds that passed before Isaac realized nothing was happing. He looked around Tai and found the rounds leaving the automatic rifles were moving so slow he could count them, the armed solders even Shtapan and her subordinates seemed frozen in place. "What…?" Blurted out from Isaac. He knew this was the work of someone's semblance. He just never considered reality could be bent this much.

"I think I have seen enough." Ironwoods voice calmly cut the quiet. "Restrain them and prep them for internment." Tai exhaled with relief sagging a bit, all but clasping his knees. Isaac watched stunned as five people in Atlas uniforms move forward, unaffected by the seeming time stop, one was pointing at Shtapans group. "Where the hell did they come from?" Isaac asked himself. The others quickly gathered the bullets. Another took the rifles out of the mercenaries hands. The remaining two restrained the rest.

"Cutting it mighty close." Tai complained then he scowled at Isaac for cussing.

"You knew?!" Isaac burst out more then a bit shocked. "Who has the mass invisibility semblance? I have several jobs need doing."

"The Banes information gathering section is quite through." Ironwood quietly commended. Completely ignoring Isaac. He glanced at a dark skinned man. "How you holding up?" He asked. The younger man nodded. "About twenty seconds left." He quickly reported. The other four quickened there pace and sounded off as they finished.

"Ok, I need an explanation." Isaac insisted squirming under Tai's arm. "Just give em a bit. You don't need it all in a flash info dump." Tai insisted. Isaac stopped squirming and waited. He noted the dark man had a tail and wondered, he had heard Atlas was extremely harsh to faunas, about a thousand families transferred to Mavideniz were from there and a few from Mantel as well. The story was always the same. A faunas relocation program had started within the Bane, he even donated to that group fund.

As always though it seemed Ironwood was above such things. Isaac found himself relaxing as Tia gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. Then time returned to the normal stream.

"What! What is the meaning of this?!" Demanded Ms Shtapan. Spotting Ironwood her expression went from shocked to stunned to angry. "What is the Atlas military doing here, in Anima?" She almost growled out then shoulder shrugged off the one restraining her approaching Ironwood. Even with her arms bound she looked dangerous. "What is the head of the Atlas military doing here? You are directly interfering in Anima affairs." She warned Ironwood.

"He is here at my request." Tai told her. "The Banes information is good, you were found out by them, what you were up to. Seems it takes a lot of people to pull off what you were trying, a lot of documents and electronic emails, and time. Your agency we found has been setting this up for months."

"You don't seem to understand." Tai continued slightly flippantly. "A part of the reason why Mavideniz went independent is there are co projects between the two nations of Atlas and Mavideniz, for killing and learning about grim."

"You are in no authority or governing position to request any foreign nation onto Anima soil." Shtapan informed Tai stiffly. "I also should add not one city or nation as approved of or recognized Mavideniz declaring sovereignty.

Tai continued as if she never spoke. "We learned of your involvement after I adopted my son, seems you sent out quit a few inquiries as to Isaac's status, instructing them to postpone any decision concerning him until you could verify the applicant, so I asked the Patch section of Children's Services to keep quite about Isaac. They agreed after I showed your intent was to mentally execute him, you planed to dose him up with drugs to the point he would be a vegetable, basically killing him. He would die here, or on the way, or just after arrival. You we found are the executioners carrying out orders from another party who does not want the war with grim to end."

Tai took a long breath clearing his throat. "It's kind of funny, we found that politicians, business and markets catering to the training, arming and all the smaller business needed to outfit, house, and train the hundreds of thousands of hunters across Remnant is in fact a multi millions if not a billion lien a month industry, who only a hand full of family's ultimately own. So at least the list is small."

Ironwood cut off Ms Shtapans coming protest giving her the full picture. "This is not just happing here." His voce shifting as he talked, becoming more quiet and dangerous. "Back at Children's Services main office. The children's section for special needs is being searched, the occupants arrested. It seems the paperwork for sequestering Isaac as mentally unstable, requiring massive doses of drugs has already been filled out, completely. Even the required testing dates directed by law have been filled out with the doctors reports fallaciously dated. The ones who made and signed these document's. The ones approving the reports are by now arrested and being interrogated. We need to find out exactly who initiated this."

Isaac watched the woman's demure change to a stone look. One who had endured far worse then what was happening now. The other two were scared, moving to almost panic, while the merc's looked on, there posture spoke of disdain to all of them. The laws Isaac knew would protect them, to a point.

Ironwood was interrupted by one of his subordinates. Who held up one of the fired rounds. After looking at the round Ironwood flatly stated. "Aura pierces. These are forbidden by law to use on people, by all the nations, they would have gone through Tai, Isaac and continued far beyond this compound, possibility killing or wounding others." Walking forward ironwood studded the mercenaries. Giving a concluding grunt before stating as fact. "Your equipment says well off, but these rounds would cost a years commissions with just what you have fired." Frowning Ironwood leaned down. "Who bankrolled you?" When the man didn't answer Ironwood simply nodded his head giving again a soft grunt. "We will find out." He informed them making a motion for them to be gathered up and loaded onto the aircraft.

"General Ironwood? Is your team done?" Isaac asked. Ironwood tilted his head with a questioning look before nodding. Isaac put two fingers to his lips and whistled shrilly. "Stand down, all of you. It's done!" He yelled to no one it seemed.

The sounds of safety's on weapons created a quiet clicking din, hammer's on pistols were clicked softly into place. Rifle safety's were being locked. Ironwood was mildly surprised seeing so many people standing up in full view on the surrounding buildings, corners and windows. He half expected one to pop out of a barrel, or the ground. As they slowly dispersed. Isaac nodded at the woman.

"I know my people. If I'm going to die, I'm taking the ones who did it with me." He almost growled

"You are insane." The woman sighed. For a few fleeting moments Isaac doubted. An involuntary mental nudge told Isaac what she had done. "So, that's how you got this job. A influence semblance." He declared. The suppressed surprised look from her made Isaac smile. "Gotya." He whispered.

"Interesting." Ironwood said eyeing her before adding. "Isaac is a formidable commander, and can see outcomes to events well beyond normal views. Do not mistake genies for insanity." The tall man studied the woman and seemed to make a decision. "You are by your actions treading dangerously close to interfering with one of our joint projects." Then Ironwood turned studying Isaac for a bit before he ordered the remaining three to be loaded for processing, provided Mavideniz government approved. The yelling of you bet and take the scum echoed as the people near enough to hear yelled their answer.

"Mavideniz is at present a communal government." Tai informed Ironwood. "They gave permission, call it a group vote."

"Mavideniz is a providence of Vale." Ms Shtapan informed Tai with a tone suggesting he should learn to read. Tai shook his head in disbelief telling her that Vale had tried a trade based hostile takeover and was defeated, the contract Vale offered was never signed. Had Mavideniz agreed to the sale Vale wanted, and by the contract's wordage Mavideniz would have agreed to becoming a territory of Vale. Mavideniz is now getting the goods and services it needs elsewhere.

As the landing area cleared and things settled down. Ironwood and Tai talked a bit covering subjects from the adoption to Vales financial blackmail. Isaac found for the first time since his arrival, he was comfortable just standing there, watching them talking.

Ironwood half smiled saying as he walked away. "Welcome to my world." He softly smirked before getting into his aircraft. Soon it lifted and flew heading for Mantel.

Isaac looked at the bullhead that had delivered that woman and friends. "Park it out of town in a field and leave it on blocks, don't do anything to the outer skin." He said to no one before walking away. It was a little latter Tai heard the craft lift, slowly moving away from the growing town.

"lets go to a restaurant, this army food is fatting." Tai grinned at Isaac, again taking his shoulder and leading him away from the simple airport. "Why do you keep doing that?" Isaac asked rolling his shoulder. "Makes me feel fatherly." Tai quipped.

After lunch as they walked the meal off Tai laid down his terms. "W-wa wait, your telling me I can be here only three days out of the week? Why?" Isaac looked absolutely stunned and confused that this was happing. "What if there's a mission, a big one?" He ranted. Tai seemed to be thinking and Isaac found himself anxious for an answer. To the world he is a child, and he had to deal with that. Having passed all the schooling did not mean anything when you are still seen as a kid.

Entering a small park the city planers had made the two strolled by the young trees. "Well, we can cover that on a case by case basis, for now I want you back in therapy, that old life you lived is over, you need to settle into this new one, and you know it."

Tai leaned forward trying to be candid. "Look, you get a heap of respect here, I've seen it, and people move just to make sure what you say gets done. You didn't even need to directly address anyone and half the camp showed up, with weapons, and with that bullhead, someone took it. Now the aircraft and is being striped of the insides, just as you commanded. But now you need to take care of yourself. I know your origins and somewhat how you lived, but that's gone, you're here, and, well, a kit." Tai gave Isaac a rub on the back saying sincerely. "Get your head on straight. If for no other reason then to be able to do the stuff the rest of us take for granted."

Settling onto a park bench Isaac frowned looking pointedly at Tai. "You want me out of the lime light. To fade into the background. That's what this is about."

Tai sighed. "Isaac, part of it is, yes, tactically yes, but life is not all tactics and missions, that's over. You need to remove these distractions, you have a new life here and your woefully unprepared for it, you can't even joke around unless its pushed on you, then you respond almost like a program, you do all the right things, say the proper responses with all the feeling of an under cooked noodle."

"I'm, not, needed?" Isaac asked.

Shaking his head at the attempted misdirection. Tai couldn't help but smile. "You've trained em, all of them well. They all know what to do and fallow everything you've taught. It's not that your." Tai sighed anew. "_This is getting frustrating_." He told himself "No, Isaac, you are needed, just not as much. When there's a surprise you're the go to man. You've huntsmen decades old who are working for Grimms Bane. They're taking what you have taught and going to that next step. Slowly it is becoming more and more that you need to learn from them, but you can't do that until your own heads on straight."

"But my messed up head as you call it is why things have changed so much. I'm functional, and am changing, becoming more integrated to society. There's still lots still to do." Tai almost did a face palm. The two went around and around until Tai simply had to put his foot down. Or more exactly the rainbow hairdo couple showed up, handing Isaac a key, a flight log and manual for a personal aircraft.

"This is so you don't have to pay transport fees from Patch to here. Heard you were a little down on funds. He explained. The female jumped in running over the words kind of like Ruby does. "It's got six seat's ya know, with pilot and copilot, , it's fast and enough dust for about four hundred hours of flight, well it's not in the tank but in the cargo hold. You got a place to stow it? At patch?" So it went with these two until it was time to go.

In the end it was Isaac leaving for patch, his thousand, did you do this? And don't forget to's. were met with amused smiles and did and done responses. The see ya latter, others were I'll call if anything good happens.

Less then three days later the news about Children's services hit the news like an explosion.

**Beacon**

Weiss pressed a finger into her temple wishing something would give or the world would start making sense. Almost a month had passed since the controversial news on Grimms Bane fighting an elder grim for the White Fang no less, and now they were again all over the news. "Just how did he pull that off?" The education board on Patch I learned to embrace but the Head of Children's services, for all of Anima?"

"He does seem to be getting around." Blake said quietly looking up from her book as she lay on her bed. "My guess, as they never said what the charges were pending there investigation. It's just a guess, but I bet they tried to get Isaac into an orphanage."

Weiss could hear Yang chuckling from her desk, one of the rare times she studied. With a slow inhale and exhale to steel herself Weiss asked. "Ok, You and Ruby seem to know a lot about him, with all that fostering nonsense, what happened?"

Yang turned facing them with a predators smile. "You want the long or the short?"

"Could we just have the abridged version?" Weiss pleaded. "Sure." Quipped Yang.

"Some of the Banes members got upwind of what Children's Services was going to do to Isaac. Sooo. Dad adopted him so the state couldn't grab Isaac and drug him up for the rest of his life."

Blake leaned forward her forgotten book tumbling onto the bed. "I want very much to hear the long version." Weiss had both her fingers on each temple her skin distorting as she rubbed. "IF this is another corruption and raciest story my faith in Anima as a whole will be greatly diminished."

Yang leaned forward clasping her hands before her. "Well, yes, to all of it, but Snow Queen there's something else." After a moment Yang asked. "How much money is tied up in support so a hunter can be trained and outfitted to hunt grim?"

Yangs explanation was long, with lot's of interruptions from Blake. What astounded the Faunas was Yangs blasé attitude to Isaac who was now her families youngest by adoption. This was Yang, who in the past, wanted nothing better then to turn him into a smear. Blake quickly ran a mental check list.

First Isaac trains a small group of teenagers to take down grim even they, as there seniors couldn't. The school board tried to kick him out, and was taken down by his hunter friends. They start building up Mavideniz taking small to large hunts to pay the bills. Then started making huge dents in the grim population, then this White Fang contract and that massive grim, also killed by Grimms Bane.

The wealth of knowledge coming from the labs of Mavideniz was geared to kill grim. The information of how grim respawn into an area they were killed in, how they did it. Weak points on grim. Now after some controversy with Vale, Mavideniz had declared it's self an independent nation, with it's own laws and infrastructure.

Vale was painting Mavideniz and by proxy Grimms Bane as a threat, militarily speaking, and was trying to pass laws to prevent anything like Isaac from happing again. Then there was the adoption, or rather attempted kidnapping. How Ironwood had arrived, with an elite squad of hunters.

Representatives of Children's Services were arrested as well as six mercenaries, and if the rumors from other hunters were true, had used ammo considered illegal across all of Remnant. In Minstrel the authorities raided two compounds finding and arresting another dozen in a conspiracy to brand Isaac as insane, needing medication usually granted to the criminally insane.

Blake nodded her head as the pieces started to fall into place.

"Money." She said quietly. "Your saying. Hunting grim has become a business, one The Bane is going to end. The bureaucrats are trying to save their financial cash cow."

"Isaac has an uglier spin on it." Yang told Blake with her game face on. "Were trained to die. The big commercial we get, all our lives, like this tournament, is on how heroically brave and self sacrificing, how we are willing to help others no mater what. Its garbage to Isaac. He thinks were brainwashed, were not trained to win, just hold them back. That people became comfortable with this system, which makes us nothing but meat to be ground down so some businessman can live a rich life."

Yang looked down shifting a bit before adding. "From what I've heard Vale is altering the laws, hunters are more restricted now. They can't form up, like Grimms Bane has done."

As the room became quiet the only noise was Weiss getting into the medicine cabinet to get some aspirin.

* * *

Poor Tai I messed him up bad.

Thanks for reading, and leave a comment, it really helps me.


	8. Chapter 8

This is a little didy about Yang and Ruby, with Tai, Weiss and Blake as background. Oh, and Salem is near the end of this story section.

At least another month has gone by and things have been normal. Ya, I know, normal is another word for boring. That's why were skipping that month. And yes, I am a sick person. Also I started watching some guy called Jerry Freeman on youtube it's surprising, his world building. Much more detailed then my own but I have to say, an uncomfortable amount of parallels. Simply said other then his low tech angle, I feel I'm copping him. So. To diverge into another world that I can call my own, well, I've been trying, but my mind seems to be set on this one and the events within it.

* * *

**Meh**

"So, you want to spend the weekend at home? On Patch?" Blake asked wondering if she got it right. It was the end of the day and the end of the week. She had questioned why Yang and Ruby were packing an overnight bag, and was told they were going to spend the weekend at home.

"aYep." Answered Yang popping the P. "Dad says our little social psycho has been making some long strides, and can even laugh a bit now, so were going to check it out. Wanta come along?"

"I don't see why, this is a waste of your time." Weiss interrupted looking over her shoulder from her studies, she saw the what are you talking about glances between the sisters and extrapolated. "The trip to Patch is going to take almost a day by boat, and another coming back. You will only have a few hours at best for interaction between sleep before you have to return."

"Nope." Peeped Ruby stuffing something into her overnight bag. "Isaac has an aircraft and is going to fly us to and back, only take a few hours."

"There has _got_ to be age restrictions for operating Bullheads." Weiss countered.

"Not a bullhead." Yang shot back a little miffed. "Some kind of small personal plane, seats four. Isaac said its fast too, and will take less then two hours to get from here to home."

Weiss turned in her chair facing them all and explained what they were missing. "I realize the Grimms Bane is acquiring large bounties, but most, if not all of that will be going back into those metal machines they use, just the amount of dust to move something that heavy, on the ground?" Weiss stood and paced a bit recalling. "They now have eighty ton, umm, tanks ? They call them? Made of iron and steal with hardly any light ceramic or plastics. No aluminum nor any tungsten. They will be using truckloads of dust."

"It should be no surprise why they have two dust mines." She stopped, folding her arms across her chest. "My point is, or more to the point my question is, how did he, or more correctly, how did your father have enough money for a custom aircraft? He is no longer fostering Isaac so, on a teachers salary your father just simply can not afford purchasing an aircraft." The two sisters looked and each other and gave Weiss a shoulder shrug. Ruby with hands up offered both.

"Ask him yourself when he gets here." Yang told her. Closing her bag and looking at the time she added. "He should be…" The door knocked. "Here." Yang finished smiling. Weiss politely huffed as she walked to the door opening it.

Sure enough Isaac was standing there. "Is Yang and Ruby here?" He asked. He was looking completely different from the boy she had seen over a half year before. That gaze that would have studied the room almost coldly was all but gone, he watched her true, but not as before, with eyes that made her uncomfortable. Weiss remembered the news impossibly claiming that his liquid semblance could move hundreds of thousands of tons and had been used to help kill that mammoth grim. Weiss hesitated uneasily eyeing the faunas before saying. "Yes."

"Little brother!" Rose petals flashed all around Weiss making her gasp. Everyone heard a "Kyaa!" Fallowed by a thud. "Are ya happy to see me? Say it! Say it!" As Rubys team crowded the door they found Isaac laying under Ruby.

"Will you get off!" Isaac told her. "Not until you say it!" Ruby countered. "Say what? Givme a clue here, this is half indecent." "I will tickle you if you don't say it!" Ruby warned. Ruby not one to wait started in. Isaac looked shocked then started snorting, holding in his laughter and tried to keep Ruby's fingers off him. "This would be over quick if I wasn't restricted." He complained doubling his efforts.

The noise they were making brought Pyrrha to the door. "Brother and sister tickle fight." Yang quickly explained. All the time Ruby was telling Isaac. "Say it little brother. Say it." Pyrrha smiled covering her mouth with a hand watching them tussle. Nora poked her head out under Pyrrhas arm. Ruby managed to pin one arm to Isaacs side, keeping it there by holding it down with her leg. Isaac half defenseless erupted in laughter. "Say it." Ruby demanded.

"Haha-Ruby, stop! I don, y-don't know." He managed to catch a finger on each of Rubys hands and held on. While he tried to buck Ruby off him. "Say it." Ruby said hanging on slipping a finger out of his grasp.

"This is looking like an unsavory floor show." Weiss whispered pulling back into there room. Isaac stopped struggling finely getting it. "hHi, sis." He half laughed.

Ruby squealed in delight, leaned forward and kissed Isaac on the forehead then stood up. Seeing Yang had her suitcase in hand she went for hers. "Just a sec to get my bag." She told Isaac walking into the room. Isaac elbowed himself up huffing a bit with a red face getting ready to stand.

Yang took a step forward. "My turn." Her smile was mischievous as she bent. Isaac was shaking his head warding her off with one hand an almost panicked look on his face. "Relax." She told him taking his hand, bracing a foot on his then pulled him up.

"Thank what ever makers smile on this world." Isaac gushed. Fully on his feet. "I could have been smothered." Yangs surprised face twisted first into shock then a lopsided grin came on so she gave him a light cuff on the back of the head. "Hay!" Isaac turned to face Yang.

"HI! I'm Nora." Isaac shocked by the sudden face yelling next to his ear spun about and bounced a step back into Yang. Who pushed him back at Nora. "Your that one in the news, right?" She asked.

Rubbing the back of his neck trying to recapture his pride with an ear spastically twitching he half heartedly answered her. "Ya, that's me. Turing the world on its head."

"Ready to go!" Interrupted Ruby. Grabbing the situation Isaac said quickly. "Sorry, got to go, nice meeting you Nora, and?"

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos."

Isaac waved as they went down the hall. "Pleas don't say you saw me, the news hates me." Ruby was almost bouncing around Isaac singing. "I got a baby brother."

"Oh. Come on Sis!" Isaac said growingly frustrated. "This is short buss stuff." Weiss, shaking her head came back to the threshold and closed the door. "Glad that floor shows over."

"Wasn't that bad, I've seen worse with siblings." Blake told her settling down to read.

"Young ones I can see, but Ruby is far to old to be straddling a child." Weiss retorted. "It's just bad manners."

"Embarrassing to watch?" Blake asked. Slightly smiling as Weiss huffed, her cheeks flushing to her ears. "Also you didn't ask him how he could afford a personal aircraft." Blake reminded her smiling slightly more as Weiss put a hand to her forehead. "I am, not, chasing him down." She vowed.

"What puzzles me." Blake asked. "Is Yang and Rubys change towards him. I wonder what happened to get them excepting the, as Yang kept calling him, little psycho?" Weiss shaking her head made clear by body language she didn't want to think about it.

The aircraft the sisters found was comfortable but not all that roomy, a seat to each side of the craft with a narrow path up the middle, but it did have a good sized cargo compartment. They soon lifted and after a bit Isaac turned on some background music as they chatted and flew the one hundred minute flight to Patch. Coming to a landing at a recently made concrete pad a few hundred feet from there home.

"Got to say. This is a lot better then a boat." Yang Said pleased as she grabbed her bag. "How'd ya get a hold of this?"

"One of the Buzz gave it to me." He answered distracted by locking the steering mechanism down with an iron bar. Then he closed and locked the door stuffing his flight book into a hip case before turning. Yang was watching him with a "Well" plastered on her face. "Oh? ya, the Buzz? There a bunch of busy bodies, self proclaimed watchers of Grimms Bane and they get into everything. They knew I was down on funds and hooked me up, so I could save some of my lien coming and going to Mavideniz."

"Guess Weiss was right." Ruby said. Isaac frowned before asking. "What's that snowflake saying?"

"Don't have to sound so angry, she's my partner." Isaac sighed seeing it upset Ruby so he tried switching gears. "Ok, ok. Sorry, so, what is Weiss saying?"

"That is costs a lot to run those tanks." Ruby answered. Isaac nodded still not smiling. "I can see the misunderstanding. She thinks I use dust to run that equipment, right?"

Yang was quick on the uptake. "You use another power source? What kind?" Isaac made a shush motion for quiet half smiling. "It's a secret, also the stuff dissolves grim."

As they walked back to the house. Ruby chatted telling Isaac what had been going on and Yang questioning Isaac more about what he had been doing.

As they came close Tai opened the door and Ruby shot straight into him. "Hi Dad!. Miss me?" After the spinning hug and setting her down Tai rubbed the top of her head. "Sure did Pumpkin." Then he turned to Yang getting another energetic hug. "This is nice. You two can spend the weekends here any time you want now." He ushered them into the house letting them know diner was almost ready. So they unpacked before the evening meal.

* * *

Some more stuff for world building and getting a feel for what kind of tone I want. Someone asked for a Salem view on Grimms Bane concerning the White Fang event. So here is some thoughts on Salem. Thanks 2Rule179 your suggestion fried my brain, I could not stop writing until this was done. (I will find you. Maybe not in this life, but the next.)

As always please post your thoughts, concerns, ideas, grammar burns ect. It helps, a lot.

* * *

**Keep Your Friends Close**

How to describe the life of an immortal. For that is what the gods of destruction and creation made of her. To have days uncountable in the past with no future end in sight, the worst thing about it all Salem found was boredom. As the centuries pass and grew into millennium's. Boredom, it is the worst thing imaginable. One could grow used to it, take a place and live in a echo like state, knowing that hunger, thirst, even being devoured by some beast would not end you.

Salem found living in a mansion or a hovel adequate for her needs. At first she had known lonesomeness, then despair and finely a haltered of the gods. In time that turned into apathy.

Man returned and Salem found their struggles fighting the grim amusing. As they grew and survived, she found herself pleased watching them. Then they found dust within the earth. Fascinating to her Salem gathered and experimented with these crystals. With time and magic she found shaping the flesh of others using the crystals captivating.

Salem captured humans and animals, using her refined magic's with this dust melded the two, it took some time and there were many failures along the way, but in the end she saw her experiments through. The Faunas were born.

There was plenty of room on Remnant, so they had time to grow before found. Humanity quickly made slaves or hunted them. What humanity did to faunas was entertaining to the immortal, faunas looked so much like the gods and their conflict helped pass the time.

When her creations fought back the humans would gather, driven to defeat them to the point were the grim were almost ignored. When Salem saw that she wondered and soon learned how to whisper to the grim, guiding their paths. It was simple control at first but as time passed her influence become more refined. She started modifying them to suite her needs. Then unleashed them on humanity and the Faunas alike. The wave attacks she periodically used took over the uncountable years, millions of lives.

Salem found she grew bored with it all rather quickly. The humans were so week and the faunas could run fast, cornering them kept her amused, but that to grew wearisome. Finely she left them all alone, even the grim, finding solace in the wood, hearing the song of the changing seasons. Interruptions by unwelcome visitors were dealt with, sometime in an entertaining way.

Humans and her creations learned to leave her alone and time drifted like a slow river, until he came. At first she intended to skin the intruder and let him return alive to the village that had grown close to her, but one look and she knew. She said his name and he hers. One touch and she had no doubt, her husband, after so long a time had returned. Salem did not know why, or care, he would she learned reincarnate into another as the body he held grew old. She found it delightful. Time passed for her in a most pleasant way.

Until. The betrayal. She felt unloved, cast aside when her love confessed the mission he was sent to complete by the gods. She could see no reason to even want them to return. They were pitiless and uncaring, she remembered them wiping out the world and calmly calling mankind an experiment. They like a spoiled child had ended all of humanity for what one group had done.

They could replace them, their children held the gift of magic, something the gods fractured from humanity. Where there had been an abundance of spells one could use, now they called it semblance, and each had only one. The gods were too cruel to want to return. Salem repeatedly voiced her views, but her husband grew distant, a part of her knew what he would do, she had seen this before in others, and prepared for it.

In the end the home they had build and the life they created was no more, her children were dead, he had used them. Like shields, until she had enough suffering his attacks and ended them with him. She remembered the story he gave her, he would be back and she would be there. Waiting with just retribution as her weapon.

The years passed beyond thousands. Humanity rose and fell at her command. Salem found advancements were a problem, technology could replace spells, becoming as potent as any magic.

She would find him, on occasion and make him suffer, but more and more she found he seemed not to be interfering with her affairs. Or she had broke his spirit at some time. Salem started letting him be, more then once her followers reported him as poor or hopelessly drunk. So she tended to other matters.

More then once she slapped humanity down when advancements in technology became troublesome, she made sure all records and text, all knowledge was destroyed, and obliterated as much as possible. Finding some amusement killing just the smart ones, the ones who could make a difference, the heroes and the giving ones willing to sacrifice themselves. This sowed the seeds of secrecy, mistrust and apprehension of participation to intervene in an injustice. They became as cowards. She smiled. Watching as the remaining masses crowded in dread into narrow mountain passes or made their homes on cliff walls, and defensive land mark's.

Then her old love returned while Salem was distracted. Engaged in an intense global war, he took her by complete surprise. His was a king and used three of the relics to decimate the warring army's. Salem wanted them all struggling in one spot, an exciting winner take all. Intending fully to let the winners be for a time as a reward should they defeat her military.

Salem lost many followers that day. There devotion to her, trying to carry out her orders made them all but fodder. After. He organized the surviving kingdoms and they started talking, sharing ideas. In time they founded a school to fight grim and were successful in driving the grim back. Salem pulled back, something she had never done. Clumped her grim into pockets, a mass to large to attack, then sent portions of them out to test the defenses of the city's and towns. More often then not a single powerfully made grim would suffice.

He suppressed religion. Some of the new leaders went to the extreme and tried to destroy emotion it's self, by banning all it's expressions, thinking, she only guessed that the grim would leave them alone, if they felt, nothing? Sometimes humans made her laugh so.

By this time Salem did not think of herself as human, but as a goddess. Ruling over the land held by man and grim. Her the final decree if they lived or died. Time passed, and the king who had brought so much change died from age.

Salem found him, again.

Ozpin. That name, so close to his original, it brought back unwanted memories. He had maneuvered his way into the bureaucracy. The efforts of her minions to stop his claim to power were found and neutralized. She was fighting laws and ideology's. It was fascinating how intricate this was, and in it's own way, delicate. He placed himself in Vale, Beacon Academy as their headmaster. Salem had to give him a head node, he had done well, outmaneuvering her, placing his own followers in controlling positions. Changing the way Remnant thought as a whole.

Salem slowly began knocking the pegs holding him up, not moving fast, wondering how long it would be before he realized that all that infrastructure he created and his hope for the world was no more. Then she learned is secret.

"So, this is his end game?" She spoke aloud when she learned of Ozpins intent. He was setting up to summon the gods, all he needed were the keys, the maidens whose existence was the life force he had given them. They welded magic, enough to make a difference, she had started hunting them as soon as it was made known how they came to be, as she had done with the silver eyes,. Even now he was gathering the keys. To bring all the relics together and summon the gods, who would then judge and damn all of Remnant, wiping out humanity, again. This time she knew eternally.

She understood all to well that he needed to be stopped, and soon. The alliances he had made struck deep into her armies, scattering some, and technology had grown swiftly, too swiftly. Salem understood she couldn't push, or use relentless never ending attacks, she would have to amass and crush them, completely. Perhaps she mused she could try, a different approach, something subtle, yet deadly.

Then she found a suitable candidate. A power hungry woman whom normally she would have noting to do with, but this selfish woman fit into her ploy and could get what she wanted done. This woman of self interest had agreed to her modifications. Cinder would intercept the first key, take from that maiden all of her ability's.

In the end Cinder had been partly successful, as Salem's faithful gathered at appointed positions to make perpetrations for Ozpins downfall something new came into the mix. A boy. Her computers when she had him investigated showed no history, it was as if this almost infant had come into existence from nothing.

A child, one of her long ago creations. At first she didn't believe, the news was simply amazing, how could a youngster do so much? It seemed impossible, so she sent her observes to watch, there didn't seem anything different, just he was rather tall for his age, yet he did things that surprised her. Gathering live grim to practice on. She had leaned back and smiled at the unique thinking, so simple yet to date no one had done so. Head strong with knowledge, enough to disagree with the professors. Then his semblance came out, and with a large group of adolescents he started making big dents in her forces on Patch. So, somewhat annoyed, she tried to kill him.

He survived. Even a pod of behemoths were not enough. It was suggested he be expelled from school for acting reckless. That would block him from becoming a professional hunter. Salem approved, letting her subordinates take care of the little things. He is an orphan, some kind of prisoner for experiments she learned, he when found had only a number as a name. He would have little in support, even the professor who fostered him would not be an obstacle.

That all ended in failure. Who would have considered a group of mid school students would pool the needed funds, using the laws as herself, to almost completely destroy her influence in the education system of Patch.

Then the boy shortly after vanished completely. He was not at his fostered home. She found his location in the most harshest of ways. One of the smaller colossus, who was going about its circle of destruction, usually ending with the demolition of Mavideniz, was this time intercepted and killed. She sent her spies which took some time to arrive and found the boy. Then she started loosing her lookouts. He was catching them, somehow. It was simple to order their deaths, save for one. It was in utter blackness, contained it could not move. She had seen through its eye, and nothing, just blackness. Salem marked the location for future study and perhaps extraction.

Then she started loosing pods. First the small ones, then the larger, before she realized it an area of over fifty miles around Mavideniz was quickly and completely cleared, and the other pods farther away were being systematically found and destroyed. Salem leaned back reflecting. All this in less then a year. Salem smiled and had to agree the boy as the news said is gifted, but sadly he was on the wrong side. Still, Salem thought it would be a shame to loose such a faunas. She had not see one like him in human or faunas form in thousands of years.

Until then she ordered her lackeys to, if they wanted to keep their comfortable lifestyle's impede them, change the laws concerning hunters, they were to be restrained. To find if legally the Grimms Bane could be overcome.

In the successful recruiting of the White Fang member Adam Taurus she decided to use him to perhaps recruit the boy. The man was intense in his passion enough to do what she wanted. It was a surprise when Grimms Bane turned up at the White Fang main base. It was no secret by this time they were a mercenary bunch of hunters. Salem kept up with the news, her isolation to the world had not hindered her knowledge of it. Salem assumed Sienna Khan had contacted them. It had made Salem smile.

She had placed that massive pod of grim to keep Adam in line. Picking away at some of the White Fangs forces to emphasize her point. Adam Taurus held such foolish ideals about fighting only humans. Her underling had placed fear in his heart by destroying partly his camp, now he seemed content, with a massive influx of monies and supply's her followers provided, and most importantly a new target, Vale and the hunters academy it's self. Adam knew if successful they would be cutting off the communication lines for the region. If Atlas could be made the scapegoat, that would farther separate the nations. Adam very soon would understand the larger, unseen picture. Once his eyes were opened complete loyalty would be assured.

Salem prepared for the assault to come, gathering all her grim, watching as Grimms Bane made there own preparations. This would be wonderful. She looked forward to the boy putting up Salem hoped, a titanic fight, but in the end, complete defeat. She smiled knowing only when his forces lay shattered around him would she make an offer for him to unite with her. Her ex love kept saying integrity was the life's blood of existence. Mayhap for him. Too often she saw that falter when death was waiting to consume all that you were. The boy would convert, or die. The outcome would be as simple as that.

Then Salem lost her eyes watching the White Fang and Grimms Bane almost all at once. The surprise to her was complete. Quickly moving, and ordering her army to attack Grimms Bane. As they moved. Salem sensed her grim die. Soon she could see the battle, but only from a distance. Every time she tried to get close some gun emplacement would target her seer and destroy it. Salem was not sure how it was even seeing the seer. Any cover she used seemed useless.

Salems frustration grew until she simply had enough, the flyers were gone as well as the first pod, she knew the other two would not be enough, even now the boy was separating them. Keeping them from combining into one force. The constant pressure of being attacked from a distance was distorting them from her commands. These iron guns, she knew could not be overcome in a frontal assault. Salem stood, as the second pod was almost completely destroyed by a massive explosion, a weapon she had never seen before. She left the main room. Walking to her casting room.

In the center of her power Salem concentrated casting the spell slowly. Distance was making the task more difficult but she still awakened one of her elder grim. Grim she used only when there was a hard battle to be won. When she was wiping the slate clean as it were. All she wanted now, was revenge for the death's of her kin. If that boy was successful in clearing the grim around the White Fang it would remove a wedge from under Adam. What was worse is Grimms Banes ability to completely remove grim. This event depleted a major concentration that would take years of migration to replenish. She as Salem finished her casting saw in her minds eye the gargantuan grim stir from its long sleep and being moving. Salem mutely gave it the target's to kill before it could return to its timeless slumber.

Salem rested from the effort, then freshening up a bit. Entering her main chamber intent on watching the end of Grimms Bane. A wave of nausea washed over her. Salem felt it. Felt it die. Staggering Salem caught the table and steadied herself on stiff arms. It was like an old friend was gone, taken by another. All she had near the White Fang for almost a hundred miles, everything of reasonable strength was now gone.

Salem knew this child was more then gifted, he was dangerous, and she resolved to find out more about him. He needed to be neutralized. As she thought about him it was obvious this Cain was the leader of Grimms Bane. Killing him would only turn him into a martyr. A hundred would rise and stand where he fell, she needed another way. Once the leadership was gone Grimms Bane would become just another band of mercenaries. Then she could chip them away at her pleasure. She set her faithful to the task. He is an orphan, start there she told them. Irritated by the events so far.

She saw the news, through the eyes of flying surveillance, learned how they used a newly discovered sensor, like infrared to find her grim, they called it grim sight. Grimms Bane gave the data away on how to make it. Then from their labs a wealth of information on grim was made available. The weak points, how grim spawned, how to find and neutralize the small pools.

This new knowledge took time to settle in her mind, it was as if she looked into darkness. That vast deep pond that birthed grim had dwindled slowly with time and was now just a scattering of puddles. This feeling was like an itch it had been so long, unremembered. Salem had not felt this emotion in countless millenniums, she was concerned, anxious.

Her people who influenced some of the city's were being pressured by the public to use this information on the grim. They could see an end, wanted the extinction of grim. Grimms Bane had shown them the way. Already her children were besieged it seemed around every city and town. Hunters banded into large groups and did not just kill, but slaughtered her kin. They could see her grim even when well hidden, and ended them.

Salem stood almost whispering her misjudgment. "I let them advance too long, I became to infatuated with the knowledge others brought. She stood regally, determined, and darkly declaring. "It is time to end this." A part of her wanted to find that lab Isaac had come from and punish them personally for letting someone like this loose on the world, yet with all the time and resources used she found no trace. A facility or lab, it had to be somewhere around the emerald forest where the boy was found walking on foot. Yet there was no sign of any organization. No traffic, not food, technology or equipment moved. No radio interchange, not even ground or air travel.

The boy didn't know where it was, just where a door had opened he stepped through and then it had vanished, after he started walking. It was frustrating to know someone could shadow themselves so thoroughly. She had ordered observations and study to a larger area around the forest. Speculation and conjecture showed there could be another society, a hidden one that had survived her eradication's they could be the reason for this rapid advancements. This was unfortunately all connector. So she turned to other maters.

Atlas Salem decided would be the first, there technology would be the most advanced and formidable, but like before and the time before that she would crush them. But. First. First, Ozpin must fall.

* * *

Well, one can guess what Salem is up to. Now. Like the matrix the world of Remnant, to me, has risen and fallen more times then history knows. Salem has simply been entertaining herself, keeping boredom at bay. Remember, she cares not for mortals, or for life. Save those who rightfully worship her. Her followers are ingrained in the societies as well as her spies and influencers, after all, it's more entertaining that way.

They are forbidden from recruiting, her worshipers can make suggestions or motions for enlisting, but generally keep hidden so Ozpin can not purge them as he did just a short eighty years before.

Yes, that big first day speech at Beacon about colors and the repressing of creativity was in my mind partly his doing, to shake Salem's influence from the public he damned and caused untold harm and misery to the people in Remnants society.

A quick note: Ozpin has been broken one to many times by Salem, she never overcame the act of killing her own children, and because of that almost constant abuse Qzpin is suicidal, just to be clear. And he's a little thin skinned because of Salem's attention.

Really, when one thinks about it, is either of them all that bad? Or all that good? I blame others for this story as the noise in my head must get out.

Now maybe I can complete my grim house story.

As always, leave a comment, or e-mail let me know your thoughts good or bad.


	9. Chapter 9

This is a time skip of almost three months. The tournament is still going, Rubys team had that train wreak where Torchwick was arrested. Isaac gets an incident that will give him enough information to make a major move in his investigation on this hidden war. Grimms Bane is doing its thing, and getting into trouble.

* * *

"Ok Bright, I understand your reasons, but, all I want to know right now is why did you let someone go inside that building? You're in charge and the warning signs are in big red letters. It's miles from nowhere, no road, paths, not even animal trails near it. So no one can possibly know about it. Or be living in it. You described this building is black with white rib like corners? No door. A red light at the end of a narrow entryway?" Isaac pinched his nose hearing Bright trying to talk over him. "No! Forget it. I don't want to know why, just get your team, what's left of it over a hundred feet away or as far as you need, until you feel comfortable about –not- entering."

Isaac listened to the response, the excuses, the reasons their lead gave. The long why they needed to go in, from retrieving his team mates to exploring the abandoned building. It was by will alone Isaac tried too, with as much calm as he could muster explain why Bright should not. Though his voice came out strained Isaac gave himself points for not screaming anymore when he told Bright the truth of what had been done. "Sorry Bright, but I think there dead. Why not do a rescue in force? I don't I hope need to remind you grim can do more then just attack with fang and claw? You would just be feeding that thing with your lives." Isaac leaned back in the chair his phone getting sweaty pressed to his ear. Trying to listen, letting his anger drain while a question kept rolling around in his head. _"I thought we had more antimemetic training then this?"_ He was becoming more bothered about it, half scolding himself for not paying attention.

He knew why this got past him, the answer was there in the mirror. A young child looked back at him, just months before, all he would have needed to say was leave, and trusting his judgment would have. Now he argued with the team leader for their lives. Isaac was simply absent most of the time. The admiration he had earned with Grimms Bane was sadly fading.

The methods he had shown the hunters. Remnant as a whole it seemed had embraced most of his teachings. Now they improved and expanded what he had taught them. In the beginning Isaac had thought these people all but simple. Obvious trains of thought had been ignored for generations it seemed. It was like they had just needed a nudge, for some reason, and they took these ideas and ran with them expanding and improving.

Grimms Bane saw a child most of the time. The half glances, and sentences geared for kids when someone spoke to him told the truth. Isaac had to almost laugh at why he never stopped them. Tai was encouraging him to act like a kid. Even the shrinks pushed it. Isaac knew he needed to face the truth, he wanted to be a kid, grow up like one should, here, in this world. The experience he had to admit was starting to become addictive. There was a brainless joy in it. A letting go if you will. With a frown he knew and understood that all things like this came with a cost. Respect was a small thing, ego and a sense of self worth was useless, when lives were being lost.

Not that he made the same mistakes kids do on behavior but the emotional roller coaster was becoming another matter. On an intellectual level he understood, his chemistry was different then an adult, or even an adolescent, but this like other things were catching him off guard time and again it seemed. Tai, who insisted being called dad or at the least father would grin like the best pun had been said when Isaac got frustrated or wound up.

It took a few minuets more then Isaac liked but he managed to get a commitment from the field leader to fall back from the house like box. Telling them to leave a surveillance camera there in case it gets up and walks away. "_I really hope it's not like a Baba Yaga."_ Isaac thought. Recalling those things can get down right dangerous, or sit like a block of stone for years doing nothing.

Next on the list was to contact the L5 on site and explain to them what this house could do. He had to treat it as if this was from his world without saying it. Strong willed hunters were needed, at least class B counter memetic's, life support for any vapors and goggles to counter red light shift, and the team needed to have a remote activated stun vest on should their minds fail. Isaac believed fully that anyone who entered that building were dead, just on the experiments they conducted pointed to that ending. The L5 naturally wanted justification on his opinion, with a sigh Isaac understood. They were not going to just kill it at a distance so he explained one more time.

The results when grim consumed animals. The scans showed they died close to instantly and moments latter were completely absorbed into the grim. So far they hadn't built a scanner that could survive past a few heartbeats in any lab animal they fed the grim. When they invasively extracted samples during implantations, using robotic arms to insert and extract, nothing but grim flesh. No caustics or poisons no digestive fluids. Some data showed the grim increasing in mass.

With all the lore and history of grim it boiled down to a. It Just Is. It was like magic made them and emotion kept them alive. The evidence to back that up was inconclusive but the way dust changed in them it was persuasive. Isaac recalled that his banishment from school allowed him to self study, learning about some of the more controversial authors of the sciences on Remnant.

That was another mater, dust, aura and semblance. It was like he was breaking into a new world, one overlaid or superimposed on this one. People he found left tracks in an area with their semblance and aura. When one settled down with concentration and calm it could be seen. Like a sent trail drifting in the air. This looked like a haze or fog of fuzzy light imbedded with strings of different colors. Isaac found this in everything they effected. Dust when used held the users fingerprints if you will. Isaac shook his head he had gotten mentally sided tracked. Refocusing took a bit before he could run the numbers.

The Containment Facility SCP002 would flag the encounter group as compromised until examinations cleared Brights team. No one would take any orders from them or heed any advice. They would in short have a mini vacation. Standard protocol. The watchers would be asking lots of questions to keep Brights teams minds going so they couldn't focused on that building. Then with a, if anything comes up we will call you goodbye the L5 hung up. Isaac shut down the phone and cleaned the sweat off with his shirt. "A new grim." He mumbled. This made the fifth one. He felt in his gut this woman seen in SCP 008 was targeting Grimms Bane keeping them off balance and on guard. This house was far away unlike the other four that showed up in town, well just one left, for now, but that one was proving hard to catch.

Isaac left his makeshift lab. Not much more then an extension attached to the tool shed. He didn't feel like concentrating. Brights team could be reached in about an hour, longer if they loaded up and flew tanks in. He just couldn't muster up enough focus while speculating and waiting. Also knowing someone would probably text or call Tai about what happed and Tai would be looking at his scroll to see if Isaac was still at home, then call to be sure he was close to his scroll as they called there phones here. Tai would do this once his class let out. Isaac needed to do, something, the idea of two or three more lost to grim ate a hole in him.

Grimms Bane was being chipped at, and it needed to stop before everyone became disheartened. So he entered his home sat and stared at the clock, phone in hand watching the mechanical hand clicking the seconds until Tai called. He answered Tai's yet to be spoken question immediately.

"Hi. Ya, still here. Didn't leave for Mavideniz." He answered as neutral as he could. It was a full two seconds before Tai's voce came back. "Sorry sport, but they have a handle on the situation, but I can understand your frustration wanting to help, and if you don't mine me saying. You did a good job talking them down, the other teams should be able to deal with this new grim."

The pause told Isaac Tai was thinking of a way to distract him. He didn't mind, the man wanted to do the right thing, and he had it rough for a time, for this place he reminded himself. Least that's what one of the Buzz kept saying That Tai all but shut down once.

One wife, and teammate in the same Academy Yang and Ruby were in, then ran off after Yang was born to become some kind of two bit raider using the hunters skills she learned to be top dog and plunder the countryside.

The other, a hunter like Tai and also another teammate at the academy. He remarried her and she went on a mission, didn't come back, each of them left Tai to take care of some very young children.

Now all of his kids were hunters and Rubys team was starting to get into something that from what info he got told him this would get way over their heads. "Tell ya what." Tai's voice brought Isaac crashing back to reality. "Take a short walk north by east and clear out that area of grim. That usually puts a smile on your face."

Isaac snorted he did enjoy taking grim down, but. "Going to take more then a short walk nowadays." He hinted all but smiling when he heard Tai sigh. "Ok, point. I wanted to take your mind off Mavideniz East and get something you can sink your teeth into. "Fishing." Isaac responded.

He heard Tai laugh before telling him to go to Diamond Lake. "People still don't know your living here and I need to keep you protected as long as I'm able." Isaac nodded knowing that wouldn't be for too much longer, the only reason the media didn't know was the lawsuit with the orphanage blocked there names and personal data from the public, anyone with street smarts could with effort find them, but Isaac gave the man props for trying.

"Ok, I'll put a hat on. Thanks," He hesitated still not sure and somewhat uncomfortable before saying as lightly as he could. "See ya then dad." Hanging up Isaac stared at the phone. He still flinched when Tai hugged or put an arm around him. _It's like were pretending _he thought. Shaking his head slightly refocusing before getting his hunters and fishing gear. Loading up his eazy-go and heading inland for a days fishing.

He felt a strange rapture when he teased Yang and Ruby once he arrived by Diamond Lake sending them a text and photo of him fishing by the lake. Yang sent back one of her doing shots at a nightclub in her new neck snapper outfit. That got under his skin a bit, partying was straight out with Tai and Yang knew it. Ruby sent pics of her team and anyone else she could. Such a strange girl.

It wasn't long before Isaac was in the zone. With the first fish landed the troubles of the day were behind him as he looked forward for the next catch. Time passed quietly.

**Trouble Finds You**

"My, my. I was told you'd be a bit troublesome finding, but here you are, easily found." Isaac looked up the hill, fallowing the woman's voice she stood in street clothing in the woods. With two others he noted. Isaac looked back at the lake and cast. He used his semblance to **see** where they were, sizing them up, and to know what they were doing. All the while looking at the lake. The male had no water just above the knee to his feet. Cybernetic he guessed but with dust and semblances they could be stone for all he knew. The green haired one had her hands on weapons but was waiting for a signal Isaac guessed. The older one seemed to be in command, her condescending voice held volumes of unspoken contempt to those she held as beneath her.

"You're scaring the fish." Isaac had to bite his lower lip to keep from laughing aloud. Sweat was starting to come off the green haired one. The man was cool, this stunt didn't faze him in the least, and Isaac viewed him as a calm killer type. There leader, well, heat, and a lot of it, started poring off her, even her clothing seemed on fire, burning away the moisture around her so, to put her more off guard he added as he glanced at her. "You don't have to be so hot headed about it." Yang would cheer he knew. They knew him, at least what the news had shown, what he was capable of and were being careful.

Reeling in the line, Isaac stood on the lakes shore. _Well, lets get this started._ He thought glumly turning on his grim count recorder, knowing fishing was done. "There a reason why you're here, scaring away the fish?" He asked facing them. Keeping from the part were he was next to a major amount of liquid. That was another bother, why here? They could intercept him on the road, or even at home. They must know if they watched the news that his semblance is liquid, not just one element, they must be sure of the outcome. Or simply experimenting.

He saw the males game face form. Isaacs face held no emotion, he was in survival mode and any feelings shown were twisted. Truth be told he had little to no emotions when in this mental state. There was a job to do, nothing more. The silver haired man was perceptive enough to know this was going to get ugly. He started moving to the side giving quick glances at the older woman.

The older woman folded her arms looking down the hill at Isaac, she seemed amused, shifting slightly on one hip. "This is interesting. I take it that is a result of your upbringing?" She more stated then asked with an arm motion towards his person. "To get to the point. I have been asked to extend an offer to you. My patron has asked me to recommend a unique opportunity for you in this life."

Isaac tilted his head at her. "The woman with the pale face?" Then nodded his head. Cinders surprise said it all. "She's rather old to take an interest in someone so young, no?"

"I grow tired of your games. Answer!" Cinder yelled to cover up her revelation. Realizing she was being interrogated, by a kid no less.

"Death is just the beginning." Isaac told an even more surprised Cinder raising his arm's one to the lake and with the other pointing at there group. A chunk of the lake came at them in a rod shape over thirty feet wide. Cinder went straight up flying on the wind. Mercury went left Emerald went right the tube like wave went right over Isaac crashing into and up the slope. Isaac could feel the soil and the plants being uprooted, trees snapping or there limbs breaking off by the sear weight of the fast moving water. He was in a bubble, the center of a storm waiting to see what there semblances were, and how skilled they would be with them.

Heat from above. Cinder used fire, only? Isaac knew this amount of water beat fire any day. Digging into a pouch Isaac tossed three finger sized ice dust containers into the water mindful to keep from crushing them, setting them up in a triangle pattern one high the others to the left and right. Ready to move them when needed. He could hardly sense the other two, but Cinder? The lack of water, and the massive heat around her body set her up like a shadow in the sun.

Emerald dodged debris, then ran outside the vortex of water that kid was throwing up. Cinder was above and raining fire, only getting blast steam for the effort. The super heated steam made Cinder maneuver around the cloud. The small lake from what she could see was visibly empting. Gathering into this huge ball around this kid. The land, and trees were being ripped apart as she watched. There was wholesale destruction for what seemed, a defensive move? Emerald scuttled to a safe spot and concentrated, looking for the kid, trying to get a grip on his mind while he was obscured by water.

"Water. To easy." Mercury smirked letting fly an electric blast from his leg guns. It had the effect he wanted a lighting storm danced around the water. Wood and parts of trees shattered explosively there sap superheated as the lighting danced within. Then six tentacle like tendrils shot out toward Mercury. Dodging he let out a volley of blasts, cutting some tendrils but hardly slowing the electrified water down as new ones formed from the remnants. Then it encircled, surrounded, and engulfed constricting on him. Tense moments passed before Mercury lowered his arms from his defensive stance. "What?" He questioned, he stood in the center of a vortex of thundering water forming a tapering tip above his head. Everything was wet, he was getting heavily sprayed by water. He stumbled, worried because he never stumbled, looking down at his feet. The water was drilling into the soil around and under him, digging a shaft.

"You're trying to, bury me?" Mercury asked with contempt and started laughing as he switched from electric to earth dust, two can play at the dust manipulation game. He never completed his plain. The water compressed on him with the force of a massive waterfall, Mercury's chest was squeezed making him belch out all his air, his aura hardly if at all protecting him. Then with a slow crinkle noise the water froze a solid blue ice. Frozen water was in his mouth, up his nose, his eyes were iced open. Two desperate breaths, firing auto with his boots, and a brief thrash were all Mercury got before he passed out.

Isaac felt the world distort then saw some of the scenery twist, misshaping before his eyes. "Esper, reality bender at worst." He muttered hating to do this next part. It left him vulnerable. Parting the water so he could see clearly he found the green haired woman staring towards him, her expression of one concentrating, for a second. She seemed surprised that he had spotted her.

Isaac hated these kinds of people. They were just a tick above reality benders, they would mess with you and think it's fun. Or all but kill you. She had twisted his perceptions yet she couldn't be that well trained or he wouldn't have seen the distortion. She wanted him to see, something. _Tit for Tat _thought Isaac_. _"Want to see something really scary?" Isaac knew she didn't hear him, but maybe she could read his grinning lips. He formed an adaptation of the flesh that hates, mixing mud, rock and broken tress to help distort and misshape the water. Keeping himself protected from Cinder took effort but he managed by forming a moving watery cap to take her fire, while keeping her moving with attacks, not that there was much a choice. Mimicking somewhat an icy scream he had heard once in the Black Wood. A shade of a face formed in the waters filled with sharp icicle teeth. Multiple grotesquely entangled bodies twisted and flopped, writhing over each other towards her. All the while that osculating scream kept getting louder.

The pressure in his head left. She stared at the undulating apparition then started screaming bringing out her weapons firing in a panic. "Join us." Isaac said reverberating the words in the waters, as the monster pillared up over her in sheer shifting mass, ready to strike down. A mouth forming like a water leach with circles of teeth, circles and circles of icicle teeth.

She actually dropped her weapons. Staring up horrified.

Isaac realized She was terrorized and that he was enjoying it, with a sad sigh of shame he let the sound and apparitions go. "I'm sorry." He said again using the water to make himself heard. "I shouldn't play with a foe, you're an esper, you play mind games, make people see, or hear what's not there, I hate your kind." He moved the water and ice to crush her, a turbulent circle of water flowing around her prevented any escape. "A quick death." He assured her adding. "Good journey." Something zipped down and took the woman before Isaac could finish her, she was just gone as a frozen swimming pool of ice water crashed down.

Isaac stared for a few heartbeats then looked around finding Mercury was also gone. "Man I thought sis was fast." He stopped, surprised at himself and started chuckling, how the words came out so easy now. "Well, that's what I get for playing with my food." He looked over the landscape putting more sarcasm into his words. "Man, why do I always get clean up duty." Finding his caught fish was the hardest part of the clean up. Stacking the wood was simple, it was wet and still had sap and water flowing in them. Shattering then crumbling the ice even simpler.

When he finished the place was still torn up, but at least the lake water would settle and the mud he had stirred up discolored only half the lake. He was optimistic it would not suffocate the fish too long. He found the easy-go unmolested. Checked it for traps and tracers and then headed home stopping randomly. Using grim sight on his rifle so he could tag any grim fallowing him. Sure enough there was. "She just keeps sending in those weird assassin probes, wonder when she'll up her game, now that the invitations been refused. Also, I have got to stop talking to myself." He promised with a half exhale he pulled the trigger.

When he arrived home Tai wanted to know what happened to the beat up looking fish. Isaac managed to hold off the answer while he set up a kind of conference call in the kitchen with Tai the Buzz, and an L3. Letting them know what happened. "I just didn't want to say the same story three times." He told the gathered. The Buzz quickly matched Isaacs recorded photos with some weird recognition program. Saying their data had a Cinder Fall, Mercury and Emerald and the fourth Called Neopolitan. Their team was registered from Minstrel for the festival, and were doing pretty good in the competition. The L3 whose face was only a static field in the 3D receiver said he would review in detail Isaacs recording giving almost no comment after. Tai however.

"I can understand why you attacked. They gave you a question that was basically join or die. It's the way you did it. Were you after more information?"

Isaac nodded. "They know this woman, what she looks like, so they've seen her. The one we saw in SCP 008 which is an assassin communication probe type grim. I believe this woman we saw is controlling the grim, or at the least guiding them." Isaac looked embarrassed and guilty at the omission and quickly explained to Tai. "We haven't told anyone, but plan to tell the hunters academy's outside The Bane soon, most believe she has control over a lot of the world, it would cause panic or make this woman move on everyone. Not that it matters, another year maybe two and she won't have much in the way of grim left too command."

Isaac could see Tai wasn't buying it fully, he was smart enough to know Isaac was leaving out information, not telling him the full story but Isaac could also see Tai knew that there was an outside influence with the grim, he hardly reacted to the news.

Tai sighed, Isaac had invoked the lives of others quote and he knew Isaac would only give the complete story when he was positive no one would die from this information. "What are lives worth too keep a secret?" He asked Isaac. Regretting it as the kids eyes and face twisted. He recalled a story he told about his world, how the SCP kept secret what was happing until it was too late to prepare the world he used to live in. "I'm sorry." He said softy lightly patting Isaacs shoulder. "Forget I said that." Then he good naturedly ruffled the space between his ears. Isaac batted his hand away. His ears sensitive to touch were spastically twitching. It was enough Tai saw to bring him back, now, on to business.

"We have to assume Cinder and company know Isaac is living here." Tai began.

"Everyone in your family is compromised." The Buzz cut in. "Time to move?" He asked. It was that rainbow colored haired man Tai noted as he shook his head. This is home, too many memories both good and bad were here, and a life was here, one he had finely made. "Well then, your all dead." He quipped. "I'm out." He added disconnecting.

"Cinder and 008-A are not going to confront you in the open." The L3 warned. The distortion shifting as he spoke, his voice was also slightly distorted. "It appears none violent means have been exhausted, or are no longer viable. They will come, when you least expect, maybe even at your school, you may not even see them if something military grade is used. They want the boy that is clear. Efforts have been made to neutralize Isaac in the past. To defused him, they sent an invitation in force. Isaac fought back. We must assume they want him dead and any around him are just tools to that end, or in the way."

"You want us to move to Mavideniz East?" Tai Asked not happy with the thought. The L3 without so much as a goodbye disconnected the static haze vanishing with him. Tai scowled leaning forward on the table. "These people don't mince words, or debate much do they?" He more told then asked Isaac. The boy shrugged a slight grin on his face. "Everyone has opinions, how they see the world. Say your truth it's all any of us can do. Once out there it attends to it's self."

The two went about the rest of the day. Near the end of the week near dinner Isaac and Tai were sent a text massaged. _"Turn on channel 33."_ Was all it said. Without fanfare Tai turned on the 3D.

A news caster with a picture of Yang and Mercury on each side of her appeared. "At the Vital Festival tragedy stuck. In a unprecedented display of uncontrolled anger and unsportsman like conduct. Yang Xiao Long, a student of Beckon Academy near the city of Vale crippled her opponent after she had won the match." The scene shifted to the stadium in a replay of Yang blasting Mercury's knee with her shotgun gantlets then yelling he disserved it. Mercury collapsed while Yang was surrounded by Atlas military. They cut to the student being taken out of the arena by stretcher Emerald jogging next to the medics wheeling the gurney away. The view switched back to the news caster where a picture of Ironwood dominated the backdrop. "General Ironwood of Atlas who do to unusual grim attacks has been given control by the counsel over the safety of Vale and the Festival, has been asked to oversee these proceedings, he has officially banned The Bacon Academy team called RWBY from further participating in the Vital Festival pending an investigation. Four photos appeared showing Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang as the newscaster spoke on. Yang Xiao Long has been disqualified for her actions despite wining the match."

Point of view switched on the news caster showing Mercury Blacks face to the right side of the news casters face. "Information stated the team of the attacked student has returned home to Minstrel to have a specialist see to his injury and to be with his family." The background again changed as the news casters face became serious. "Later tonight we will have an expert on the subject of Mental and emotional Stability in hunters. Are they heroes, or a threat. Now back to the." Tai turned off the 3D screen. Shifted and rubbed his face with a moan.

"Well. Looks like things are kicking off nicely. For them." Isaac growled. Pulling out his scroll Isaac found a web page showing the match, not a hard thing considering that's all that was being talked about right now. He watched the whole match, replaying the part where Yang injured her opponents knee, several times. "Ya, it's fake." He held up a still zoomed in where Yang blasted Mercury's knee. "No blood and the blast went right through his knee, with his aura levels as low as they are, Yang should have taken that section of his leg off. One other thing look how she's just standing there as the troops surround her, then it's like a switch turned on and she sees them, man that's a confused face if I've ever seen one."

"I'll tell Ironwood what you found, and let him see that recording you made." Tai was a bit on guard when Isaac just did a small shoulder shrug still playing the match Yang had been in.

"I wonder what there going to do to Ruby?" Isaac asked Tai. When the man stared Isaac explained. "Well they discredited Yang, her face is all over the news now, if they don't use this to start a trial for her I'll be surprised. Now to drive there point home they have to do something to Ruby. My guess, as tomorrow is the end of the week she's going to be kidnapped, she will vanish or it will be only for the weekend, and they will shatter her emotionally and physically. Her attack will be panted as a reprisal by fans for what Yang did." Tai stood and just stared in wide eyed silence.

"Think about it, Yangs reputation as a hunter is shot to hell, Ruby an emotional wreck. Then it will be your turn, then mine." Isaac stated calmly as if he were talking about what to make for breakfast.

"Your talking rape." Tai accused. Isaac shook his head. "No, I'm talking a dozen guys ganging Ruby for two nights and a day then tossing her barely alive and naked into a dumpster covered in there mess. You, since they displayed how ruthless they are, well, wont take much to threaten a kids family and have them cry molestation, the doctors will find proof then your whole livelihood as a teacher is gone, not to mention jail time, and I'm guessing someone in there will be promised a shorter sentence and will kill you for it. After you've had time to think about it. The public forget about you. Or you learn I'm dead."

Tai paced agitated, running his hands through his hair. "You don't know that!" Isaac again shrugged. "And what have I said about swearing?" Tai demanded.

"Look, I know you want some control in this mess, mine is just an opinion the worse one I know, and hell is a real place were I'm from. You don't know shit you pants terror until you've seen a demon. Then hear it every night whispering in your sleep telling you what it's going to do when you die."

Tai stared for almost half a minute letting his emotions settling a bit before sitting down. "Sometimes." He began quietly a clenched fist pressed on his lips. "I forget that you're almost as old as me and have lived in a nightmare world." He looked up staring at the wall above the fireplace. Talking as if lost in thought.

"I built this house, once I started getting over my first wife leaving me, made a home with Yang. Then Summer came into our lives and it was her Yang and me. It was good. Then Ruby joined us, and then Summer was, just gone. Took me a while just to get my head on straight enough to take care of the girls, by that time years had passed. Now it looks like I have to start again, start all over just to keep them safe." He shook his head slowly. "If was just me, I'd take my chances, but it's not." Isaac nodded with a noncommittal look before voicing what could be done.

"I can go over tonight, sleep on the floor and have them out of there before dawn, maybe even get em out tonight, just after there classes are out for the long weekend." All it took was a nod and Isaac was up in his room getting what he called a bugout bag and was out the door.

"Sorry, but if you want to die. Well, that's your privilege." Isaac said to no one as the aircrafts engines came to life. He had almost two hours to talk to the buzz and an L4 before he arrived at Beacon.

**Beacon Academy**

Isaac didn't even knock at Yang and Rubys dorm room. Catching the tail end of Qrow saying as the door opened. "Your either crazy or lying." As he the door opened fully. Isaac saw him looking at Yang seated at her bed and her frustrated and lost looking face. Isaac snorted through his nose catching their attention. "Try it was a set up." Not caring how this interruption looked.

As the silence stretched in the room Isaac closed the door. "I hope you have some proof." Qrow said deadpanning. "Ya, low aura and not a drop of blood." Bringing out his scroll Isaac plugged it into the display screen in there room and played the recording. "Look how low his aura is, now Yangs shotguns should have torn a least a part of his leg off. She didn't hold back on the blast and I don't blame her if Emerald was in her head. Yet he didn't bleed, then, poof whisked away, they're gone to Minstrel. My data says there not students. That Headmaster called Lion Heart has allowed falsification of the files.

"Accusing a headmaster of a hunters Academy is a huge accusation." Qrow told him a warning deep in his throat. "Oh, you think that's harsh." Isaac shot back. "How about there's a grim in the building the buzz says it's a 008 in shape, so someone is keeping an eye on him. My guess is he's being threatened with death if he doesn't behave, well, just a guess 008 has communication abilities. So there's that. He could be willingly working with her. But. The Buzz say he's really good to the students."

"Now watch this recording of my encounter with them a few days ago I need you all to be quiet till the end." Isaac played the encounter with the three at Diamond Lake. In the silence when the recording ended Isaac told Yang and Ruby what he wanted to do. "I want to take you to Mavideniz, get you out of the lime light and have a few days to recover."

"So." Asked Qrow. "Why haven't you exposed the Minstrel Academy." Isaac sighed. "Because Our L5 pointed out a problem. Minstrel has a loud anti Faunas life style going on. By law faunas are not allowed to have a business save in the lower sections, the poor sections. Think. What would happen to the faunas living there if a powerful influencer like a headmaster of a HUNTERS academy turned out to be a turncoat who has been falsifying or letting slide students paperwork for the festival, keeping a pet grim, not to add letting the hunters in that area die without reporting it. There's hardly any left. Then there's the buzz, who have bugged every nook and cranny of the place they could get to, trying to pilfer information."

Qrow stood his voice colored with frustration. "You better have some solid proof." Holding up the scroll Isaac waved it in front of Qrow. "All in here and you can check it, look I know this guy is a part of your little conspiracy to make the word a better place, and quite frankly I couldn't care less what you and your inner circle does. I'm after grim, but, when it interferes with Grimms Bane I will get involved. Now I was given an offer and in less then two days they've successfully gone after Yang, Ruby is next. Then the rest." He gave a quick wave at them all. "So I'm here to offer my sisters a place to stay were everyone knows the dirt that's been heaped on Yang."

Yang forced her way in front pushing past Qrow. Her expression and eyes were almost crying, fearful, and demanding. "Your sure, about Mercury? Your not just saying this to make me feel better?" Isaac lowered his head quietly snickering at this foolishness before looking up. "Yes. When he attacked at the lake I couldn't feel any liquid in the lower part of his legs, so there artificial, of that I'm sure, you were set up sis. The match was rigged. Emerald is an esper, she makes illusions, what you saw you did see, Emerald put what ever you saw in your head to get you to attack Mercury." Isaac thought of taking her hands and looking into her eyes to emphasize his words, but that emotion just wasn't in him. She would have to accept the truth as is.

After a few moments Yang lowered her head. "Didn't stop Ironwood from disqualifying our team."

"Ya, the world sees you as an offender. Not a victim. No one is even giving the recording more then a glance. Like how you stood still while the guard's surrounded you and your face when you suddenly realized they were there. Emerald is not a good esper she had to concentrate on the two medics, making them see flesh, not steel, or rock, maybe dust I don't know, whatever his legs are made of."

Isaac took a breath seeming to gather his thoughts. "Most if not all will have forgotten that Cinders team went to Minstrel, and that is were the news will stop. No ones going to do a fallow up on that team. The Buzz may push it, not sure. Now the more important matter is. The Grim are coming, there are a lot of people upset about this, it's drawing them in, big ones too, yet Grimms Bane is not getting any contracts from the city and the laws I'm told say Ironwood can't use any of his military forces unless there is a clear and present danger. Which means the grim will have to be in the city before he can do anything, and by that time this woman, who ever she is will have him and his military neutralized." He caught the flinch and movement from Qrow and moved around Yang to face the man. There was only one reason to act like that, he hadn't noticed before concentrating on Yang.

"You! You know who she is." The motions and emotions for preparing a lie were all over Qrow's face and posture. Isaac found his own emotions all but out of control. "Don't you. Dare. Lie to me! You know who she is! Give me her name." He finished yelling managing to rain himself in a bit.

Qrow rubbed the back of his neck, stared at Isaac then the rest. Hunching over a bit with hands in his pockets, saying nothing and left the room. "Is keeping a secret worth all the lives that will be lost?" Isaac asked loudly to Qrows back. Closing the door, almost slamming it shut. Any in the room could hear him mutter as he stared at the door. "He knows and is letting his own kin be dragged through the dirt." The boy was trying to wrap his mind around that. Family, he had none, save the SCP now here, he had one, yet.

Yangs hand on his shoulder brought him back from this dark place he had gone to. "Other then sitting around, is there anything to do? In Mavideniz?" Turning he found Yang kept her hand on his shoulder so he answered. "Ya, some hunt, classes, combat fields, Mnemonic and counter mnemonic, a few aura tracking classes. I'm told our own adaptation of the Festival." He blurted out. Shifting a bit uncomfortably.

"What does Qrow know?" Weiss asked. "Your display wa." Isaac cut her off. "He knows who this woman is, who Grimms Bane found controls the grim, she has a name and Qrow knows it Cinder Fall and I'm betting her goon's know." Isaac sighed seeing the shocked looks around the room.

"Sorry didn't want to lay that on you all, but damn if I know another way to say it. We found a woman's face in SCP 008. That's a hunter communications assassin drone like grim. Grimms Bane has been attacked these last few weeks by specialized grim. Things are ramping up. The newest is a grim like a Baba Yaga a house shaped one, it's killed three so far."

"I haven't heard anything in the news." Blake offered. "I keep a keen eye on Grimms Bane." Isaac shrugged. "You have only heard the bad news then, this woman controls a lot, and she's powerful, an influencer like no other. The Bane believe she has control over or is influencing these new laws. Why do you think we made ourselves into a country."

"What's a Baba Yaga?" Weiss asked. "Old woman who kidnaps and eats children." Isaac responded his mind on Qrow and how to get the Beacon staff together so he could properly interrogate them. Weiss gasped taking a step back glancing at the others in a did I hear right. Seeing their surprised reactions she knew they heard and pressed on. "Three children are dead?" Isaac looked up at her like she was insane. "No. No. It's like one, even walked away on centipede like legs." Weiss made a face, disgusted with the thought that a grim would target only children. "So anyone who goes into it?" Isaac half nodded. "Things Memetic and can control you enough to make you want to go inside. Took me a while to talk the team lead who found it into getting away from it. By that time three were dead." He ended simply. Like talking about a minor matter.

Isaac looked up seeing everyone's disturbed glances at each other. "Ok." He sighed. "I'll see about getting you into the anti-memetic class." He watched them for a bit before asking. "Well if you want pack up, we can leave tonight. Unless you can handle me sleeping on the floor, here." He pointed down. Though Rubys reaction was "Sleep over!" Yangs was downplayed. "Ya, lets explore that some more." To Blakes neutral. "No." Lastly Weiss with an elegant movement stating. "You are an adult in the body of a child, so. No."

After a few seconds watching them watch him Isaac asked. "Well? Pack up."

**Mavideniz East**

"Unidentified aircraft, you have entered Mavideniz air space. Declare who you are and intent." Came the radio broadcast in there headsets. "Isaac with Team RWBY, coming home for some R and R. Aircraft is MCA 1414. "I don't care who you are, you're an unscheduled flight, pad 13." Came the radio response. Isaac sighed. "Ok, fine, just send us some transport." The radio crackled. "Oh, you don't worry you'll get that, guaranteed. Switch to transponder frequency 100013 and land."

"Well, this is turning out to be interesting." Weiss commented into her voice mike she sounded frustrated. "So much for landing on your home, I wanted to see that." Yang added.

"Why are they doing this? Pad 13 sounds ominous." Blake asked.

"Like she said, were an unscheduled flight, at night, so there being safe." Ruby explained. "This sounds like the military so they like Ironwood have ways of doing these things."

"Looks to me like you're not in charge anymore." Yang told Isaac. Seeing him node his face lit by the green lights in the control panel showed he was not happy about it. In the dark cabin she shifted uncomfortably in her seat asking quietly. "Just another hunter?" Again Isaac nodded. "Ta, um Dad keeps me at home, mostly." Darkly chuckling Yang nodded her head and reached over and ruffled Isaacs hair. Isaac batted at her hand. "Ghah, would you stop, you're just like dad." "Thanks." Quipped Yang. Isaacs look said that wasn't a complement.

Landing at the pad was easy, it was large and well lit. The number 13 four cornered the pad in large letters. A long armored tracked vehicle like an RV in length trundled up. Isaac when he jumped out was scooped up by Scarlett in a spinning hug. "It's so good to see you again." Then she held him out at arms reach. "You will not believe what we've done since the last time you were here!" Then she thumped him down. Yang laughing by the aircraft stopped long enough to fish her belongings out. Then approached her.

"We unwanted refugees, you got food and home to give us?" Scarlett started laughing with Yang. "Yep but your going to Isaac's home. We'll see about tomorrow." She half turned away talking almost candidly. "Pretty shitty what they did to you, but at least we know Emerald can form realistic illusions."

They loaded up onto an armored personal carrier. When the thick door thudded shut Ruby asked as they jerked into movement. "Why are we so far out? We are at least a mile from the walls." The answer was disturbing from Scarlett. "Killing zone. Anything bad land, it's gone. If they won't land at pad 13, we shoot em out of the air, and believe me we have some excellent AA now." Ruby sat back looking worried sneaking glances at Isaac wondering why he was so relaxed.

Leaving the personal carrier they swapped to a large easy-go and rode to Isaacs home. "Looks like they were thinking ahead." Ruby exclaimed. "They added a prefab home to yours." The attached building held five rooms with a living room. Someone had plunked the thing down in the back yard and hooked an enclosed walkway to it. "I guess this is yours, well, I leave it to you to settle in. Good night." Isaac left the four to settle who slept where.

"Remember when this was just a field?" Yang reminded more then asked Ruby. Plunking her night bag down. The small leader nodded looking about the sparse walls. There was furniture here, even an entertainment counsel, but it had a sterile look about it and a paint smell. "Ya we wondered if he kept the receipt so he could give it back." Going to the door she looked out eyeing the sky. The low sparse clouds were aglow reflecting the street lights, she could hear traffic moving in the distance. Closing the door she said what they all knew. "Just over a year and this turned into a city."

"Of hunters." Blake reminded them. Looking into a room and deciding if she wanted it. "There is too much room here."

"This may take some getting used to." Weiss told them. "I'm not sure, but is he thinking about keeping us here? Or just the weekends?"

Yang having found a room to clam called out. "My face is on the news, I've been targeted by some lowlife who didn't like Isaacs answer, now he's saying my sis is next? What do you think?"

"Are you thinking about staying here?" Blake sounded a bit more stressed then normal. She had been trying to find out what the White Fang were doing in Vale and having little success. This was putting a massive twist into things for her. She didn't want to admit she feared loosing her team mates.

**Morning**

"Where's Isaac?" Asked Ruby. They were making breakfast from a fully stocked fridge. Ruby had gone to ask Isaac if he wanted some. He was not at home or outside and the eazy-go was gone.

Ruby was going to call him when someone knocked at the door. Opening it she found a rainbow haired woman standing there. "Hi. I'm from The Buzz, can I come in?" Ruby took a step back opening the door wider. Walking in she sniffed the air and started to explain. "Isaac went to talk to Jr." In the stillness she asked. "You made an extra plate, can I have some? Been a while since I've eaten."

Ruby shrugged rubbing her head. "Ah, I don't see why not. He went to Jr.'s?" The woman didn't even hesitate sliding up to a plate and loading it down with food. "Sorry about Isaac vanishing, but if the rumor is true Jr.'s taking a job because he's got a bone to pick with Yang, as does Torchwick. So we loaded Isaac down with pictures of Jr.s family and off he went." She bit down on some egg and toast.

"Your using extortion?" Blake accused. The woman nodded. "Call me Rainbow, everyone else does." She finger twirled her hair. "This isn't a tie-dye job." Then. She pointed a finger at Blake. "Yangs been set up everyone knows her as The Villain, Jr.'s been hired to do, something with Ruby, So Isaac is going there to tell em it's not worth any pay or threats. If he doesn't get a good answer Jr.'s going to pick up a heavy rock and jump off a city pier."

"He's going to kill Jr?" Yang asked staring at Rainbow shoveling in her food. She nodded then wiped her mouth. "You bet, things are getting serous and Isaac can control liquids, that means he can puppet someone, anyone watching will see Jr. jumping off a pier, not Isaac pushing him. Lots of eye wittiness saying he took his own life."

"I can't believe your talking about a mans life so casually." Weiss injected. "You remind me of Isaac." Rainbow shrugged. "We get along. Personally Jr, if he wants to keep the sweet deal we made a while ago will gladly skip out." She pointed a fork at Ruby like a rifle sight. "Once he knows Isaac, Ruby and Yang are family he'll back off. He'll understand why the offer was made and all that. We sent Isaac because he can read people like no one I know. If he passes Jr lives, if not, well we cut off the problem and send a massage."

"That your as vicious as them?" Asked Weiss with a serous expression. Rainbow nodded. "They, these people and who ever this woman is will have to come out in the open and soon. The Bane will not allow this to remain in the shadows for too much longer. Then. It's open war." It seemed she had said all she would and everyone save Rainbow started picking at their breakfast.

When finished she waved goodbye and left. "Don't forget to check in to the mnemonic class if ya don't want your mind controlled again." She sing songe'd to Yang.

* * *

This a little bit is about Yang and Ruby, with Weiss and Blake.

And yes, I am a sick man. I know I'm shitting on the bubble heads.

* * *

The class wasn't quite what RWBY expected. First there was a small line to get in. Then paperwork to fill out. Some of it guessing the shape of an object in unfolded picture form. Yang sighed answering the question. "Have You Ever Been Mind Controlled." Then giving the place day and time with a brief explanation.

A thin Man about average height with grayed hair was calling the entrees in. So far no one had exited the building the way they went in.

"Ok, you four are next." The man waved an arm indicating Team RWBY. With Ruby leading they filed through and down a hall with a lot of doors. As they walked faint screaming could be heard, someone begging. "This is your room. He opened the door waiting. "It sounds like some people are in trouble." Ruby looked up at the man. "It's nice you want to help, but there beyond any help you could give." He waved them to enter, closed, and then locked the door. The rooms walls were bare. A table with six chair's around it. Everything was the color dirty white.

Yang raped on the door with her knuckles. "Hollow, wont take much to kick in."

"Why would you want to do that?" Ruby asked blinking at her sister.

"A stranger locked us in." Blake, stating the obvious.

"There were lights, small ones above the doors, some were lit." Weiss added.

"Still it's locked from the outside and nothing inside to unlock it." Yang finished.

Less then three heartbeats later the door unlocked with a clack and an adult walked in. Everything about him said grown up from his hair to trimmed full beard. "Take your seats." He ordered in a low voice.

"Yang Xiao Long. Ruby Rose. Half sisters." He flopped their folder's down on the table. Weiss Schnee X- Heir to the Schnee corporation and Blake Belladonna. Child of the founders of the White Fang and member until not to long ago." He looked at the two for a full ten seconds before flopping down Blake's then Weiss's folders on the table.

"There seems to be some confusion, did you say X-Heir?" Weiss asked perplexed.

The man didn't answer he dragged out a chair and put a leg on it leaning down to brace an elbow on it. His eyes burrowing into Weiss. Before he spoke.

"Ok snowflake understand this. Your words carry weight, if you don't believe this well here's a little story from not too long ago. Your father hires faunas because he can pay them almost half the wages as human servants, and yet they will live better then if they did not work for him. The faunas? They will work hard to keep their jobs. Your father makes sure of that, fires them, it seems, at the drop of a hat."

He reached down flipping her folder open. On it a photo of a faunas in a butlers outfit. The mans words were scolding in a quiet way.

"Like when a servant spilled a slice of cake. It was your favorite if the info is good, lemon something or other. Even though there was so much more you screamed about that one slice, and he was sent away. Your father heard the story and fired him. You got a new butler, a cake butler of all things, whose only job was pastries, he served you well I'm guessing. He flipped over the photo. The same faunas but more haggard looking.

"Now the problem is he was fired, seems when a Schnee fires you as a domestic no one else wants you to work for them. So the man and family sank into poverty. Word got out, so the family name became tarnished, people started looking at there employees, found some wanting and fired them, after it was all said and done three took there own lives, two leaving wives, daughters and sons." He flipped each photo over, one a head shot another hanging the last exposure to winter. As each adult ended the photos of there family were flipped by." Closing the folder he rested it on his leg still looking down on Weiss who didn't seemed to be able to speak.

"You may not be responsible directly but indirectly you are, you're a member of the extremely rich and because of that wealth, from a powerful house, your word carries weight, a tremendous burden and in your tantrum for cake you killed three people and ruined the lives of over twenty others. Now you're here, I guess because your dad cut off your funds. Or you're a runaway, living on the hunters good name."

"I became a huntress to help people and improve my family's name." Weiss injected with a quavering voice.

The man looked hard at Weiss, then rolled his eyes. His words condescending. "If you wanted to do something productive why didn't you become a bureaucrat, you could have improved the lives of tens of thousands, be in a position of authority and respect. Phrase the sentence right and your father would love what your doing, you could even get away with giving product away if it improved the Schnee name. Sure others would pay a higher price, but all would know why."

He leaned forward explaining as if to the dense. "Your father is not a bad man, he just has as most do, put too much of himself into improving the business, he is trapped in what others think of him, what others think of his families image, but he works with numbers, where your grandfather was a ground ponder and knew what the commoners needed. That's your fathers failing. That an your mothers an alcoholic trying to blame others for her own mistakes."

Blakes words came out neutral sounding as she spoke to the adult. "Why are you treating Weiss like this? She has done nothing but improve herself since she arrived at Beacon. She wants to help people, as a huntress."

The man chucked placed Weiss's folder on his leg then flipped open Blakes folder. "Oh, so now the Belladonna speaks up. Your defending her, your team mate?" He moved a page covering a large photo of a burned out building. "You got a lot of cheek considering your past." Another photo was revealed. Police tape around a home consumed by fire. "Just how many people did you put into the grave with the White Fang?" Another photo, a street, a bomb had exploded scattering debris. As Blake opened her mouth he cut her off angrily slapping down the facts. "Don't give me that's why I left, or. The it happened so fast, or any of that crap, you witnessed, and did nothing past words."

He kept showing photos, now bodies were there. The first one a typical white circle and number cards where the person died, blood staining the street. The next was a dead human. He pointed an accusing finger at her. "Nothing. You were too concerned about your own safety and what you mentally wanted to handle. Afraid to take a risk. Only when it was safe did you sever your ties with the White Fang. Sorry to burst your bubble but you don't need to hide." He waved a hand at her head bow. "You're not important enough for them to hunt you down as a traitor. I wouldn't be surprised if your headmaster at Beacon knew about your past with the White Fang and still let you into the school." He flipped her folder closed placing it on his leg with Weiss's folder as Blake looked down making quiet sobbing noises.

Yang went to her holding Blakes shoulders rocking her slightly. "What kind of a man does this? What sort of crappy interview you got going? You just here to degraded us? Drag our past thru the dirt!" Yang demanded.

He straighten up pining the folders with one hand on his leg. "So, the busty thick one decides to jump in, yes, you do that a lot. Now why should anyone here train someone who jumps in? Your going to get your team mates killed when they try and save you, or do you just want to party before and after fighting grim? Towns die, people die for no good reason save they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and you smile, wink, giggle and party like some blond fuck toy."

Yang stood her weapons unfolding on her arms. Breath coming out ragged and her hair truing into flame.

He seemed more disgusted then wary at Yangs actions. Again in his simple way slapping Yang with words. "Better watch that temper it will get you killed. Or your sister. Your trained to fight grim not people and you are asking us to train you and your friends?" He leaned forward his other hand on top of her folder not even opening it. "Give me a reason. Just one that is from the heart and don't think I can't tell if your bullshitting me, well? You got a good reason why you want to fight monsters?" He demanded. Yang stood rock still her mussels so taught she looked like a sculpture. Until it all seemed to deflate. Yang sagged leaning on the table with both arms her hair covering her face.

"I, I wanted, to, to see the world, go places I've never seen. Fight grim and save people. Now there's a war coming." She looked up tears coming down her face. "They took My Mind! Made me see what was NOT THERE. There was noting I could do, strength didn't matter, determination is useless, I didn't even know it was being done. They have to be stopped, she has to be stopped, somehow." She sagged again sobbing. This time Blake steadying her, helping her to a chair. The man simply picked up her folder and laid it with the others.

He opened Rubys folder, seemed to flip open a few pages within before looking at her. Ruby squirmed under that look. She felt like her father was upset and going to punish her for something she did wrong.

He stood, flopping the three folders on the chair, Rubys open on the table, her photo and some data on height weight ect. Showed. Walking over to one of the white walls and opened a drawer. Once he had done so they all could see that one wall was filled to chest high with storage compartments. The white color and almost seamless drawers made them invisible until one was used. He set a device in front of Ruby.

"This is a VR, it will give you everything including smell. You wear this for five minuets or you all leave, no retry. Ok?" Ruby quietly nodded and held still as he adjusted the cap goggles and face guard in her. "You ready?" He asked quietly. Ruby nodded apprehensive. "I can tell you one thing, this is not real this is the past." Then he eyed the three. "Say, do nothing, or you also fail." He turned the thing on.

Ruby went ridged. The three glancing at each other uneasy. You could hear quite noises coming from her headset. Ruby started breathing faster. The man quietly picked up a waste can that was almost invisible in a corner and held it ready. Less then a minute went by before Ruby stood reaching for something. "No! Don't! Then went rock still. The man put the waste can under her mouth. Ruby Bent and lost her lunch. Rubys hands found and clutched the waste can and she kept dry heaving for the rest of the time. The man watching his clock with a hand over the off switch. Then Click it was done.

Ruby kept heaving as the set was taken off. After a bit pale of face she looked up and asked. "Why?"

"You're the leader? A barely what, sixteen year old? Your brother I can see he's proven himself time after time, but you throw up at a VR coverage of a grim attack? You've never seen one, have you? One where a town is destroyed? Isaac said your altruistic and innocent, told me he'd have my ass and any another part of me he could catch if I abused you too much. But he said I could do this, just to try and wake you up a bit. The job of a hunter is to kill grim, sometimes." He pointed at the VR. "Things go wrong, people die. The town is not saved. You have to except that as a leader people who fallow you or depend on you could die. Now have some water and a mint it'll get the vomit taste out of your mouth. He pulled from his jacket a cup sized container then lay a mint on the table.

Ruby sipped a few times then added the mint sucking on it and continued to sip. As she did the man put the device away after cleaning the visor.

The man stacked their folders, straightened them out as Ruby finished. Only when he had the vessel back did he conclude the interview. "We have some people, what we call watchers. They don't network with us much but they are watching this exchange and forming opinions on your lot so I'm going to ask em if I should let you go to the next level. And to tell you true I'm voting not to let you in for any training." He stopped by the door looking at the three. "You can move and talk now." Then he left.

Weiss was the first to stretch her arms out and lay her head on the table. "That was an unforgiving interview. I feel like I've run the whole day." She looked up at Ruby. "H-how are you doing?"

Ruby looked down. "It was horrible, people were being torn apart by grim, crushed by walls, burned alive, even some hunters lost there lives." She looked hard at Yang, the brawler could see something was gone in Ruby and a part of her mourned. "This is Isaacs recording. The town of Ithaqua just south of Vale on the other side of the barrier peaks." She shook her head. "Six or so months old. I remember reading about it, but they never mentioned Grimms Bane being there to save what was left." Ruby covered a part of her face with her hand. "I can hardly except that he lived through something like that and is hardly changed."

Yang moved and rubbed Rubys back a half smile on her face. "He's been through a lot before he came to us, least it wasn't spider grim." Ruby trembled and shook off Yangs hand. "Sop creeping me out, sometimes I think your enjoying it." She accused Yang.

Yang smiled a small smile. "I think, I used to, then the world got meaner or more adult." She shrugged. "You hungry?" She asked Ruby. Yang smiled a true smile as Ruby looked up at her. That was the Ruby she knew and it relived her to no end.

"There is a problem." Blake said trying the door. Which was locked.

* * *

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed: Leave a comment, thought, or image.


	10. Chapter 10

**Isaac goes to Jr.'s enough said.**

* * *

Sighing Jr. was puzzled a bit by the wordage as he reviewed, for approved, the dally paperwork. He rubbed his brow tired of it all. "These new business requirements are going to be the end of me." He muttered. Shifting his focus to the weekly inventory he made sure that the orders for all the things needed for the nightclub were being handled as they should be.

Lighting a cigar he reflected on how he had had to update the building codes during reconstruction, place wasn't doing so bad with the new look, he had thought with the hunters compensation law he could get the place just about rebuilt after that Xiao Long kid had thrashed everything in sight. The paperwork he recalled had gone through swimmingly. Jr. grunted with a mix of emotions had Yang not sexually attacked him it would have been a different story. Yet the charges he tried to bring up against Yang were denied, the hunters board saying he had been fully compensated, siding with a hunter rather then a civilian.

Then a offer, someone Torchwich knew came with a proposal, they wanted a hit, one person. At first he balked, doing anything close to that was not his style, you have to be geared to do wetwork, even kidnapping, he like information. Once he learned who it was, well, all bets were off. They wanted Yangs sister alive but too damaged to even say what happened. Then found a day or so later, a massage being sent, he understood that, and he didn't pry as to why. Simple enough, bonk someone hard on the head enough IQ goes right down, drug em up and they won't know what happened.

Leaning back in his oversized office chair he half smiled thinking about Yang. It had taken almost no effort to find out who she was, he reflected on all she had done, to him, to his place, to his men. Even the twins, Jr. was all but muttering to himself. "Oh, ya, when Blondie comes to saver her little sister she's going to pay." Jr.s face twisted into a smile, even with all the hunters in her family he knew how to throw them off. With a grunt he wondered, thinking maybe he should just make Yang vanish. With what she did in the arena everyone would think she was hiding. His smile twisted even more, imagining what she would be like a year from now.

One of his employees knocked on the door derailing his fantasy's of pay back. "Doors open." Jr. called out taking a big puff and letting it out slowly as one of his men entered. One of his black clad enforcers walked in. The mans red sunglasses looking out of place inside a building.

They were more then shades it allowed his men to get text massages should the radio fail, allowing them to organized using a small HUD display in the lens, showing the building outline and where the trouble was. Should anything happen in the club they could deal with it quickly. When activated his men could also see in complete darkness, they cost, but he didn't want to hire any faunas, especially with the White Fang still going crazy stealing every shipment of dust they could lay there hands on. Jr. leaned forward focused on the enforcer. "So?" He asked.

Only when the door was closed did he answer. "That kids back. The faunas who started Grimms Bane. He's out by the VIP door, asking for you." Jr. cocked an eyebrow. "He dressed in that foam rubber?" The enforcer shook his head. "Hunters garb."

Jr. leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk, waving his cigar like it was doing the talking. "Well, we have an understanding. Let the kid in, be polite, set him up in one of my booth's." Then he pointed the cig at the enforcer like a gun. "Non alcoholic drinks only." The man nodded heading for the door.

Jr. leaned back as the enforcer left, then started muttering to himself. "Wonder what the kid wants now?" He recalled the first time he had seen Isaac. The disguise was good, but anyone talking to him for more then a minute could see that everything was off. The face was good he admitted, but it was some kind of hood, even had facial hair, he looked like a pudgy midget in his forties belly rolling when he walked and everything. It was a good set up. Doorman let em glide right in, even his barkeep didn't think twice about handing him his order. Then he made a beeline to him.

"I represent a private party interested in your services." He told Jr. The big man had scoffed slightly irritated. He hated that kind of double speak he heard it so much in his line of work. "Ya we get that a lot, you want to rent a privet room for a discreet party?" The midget shook his head and despite the high collar around his neck Jr. saw, because of his height, the neck folds behaving like twisting cellophane, not flesh.

"Ok, I'm interested." Jr. Admitted. Studding the man. "Lets go into the VIP room, relax a bit and you can tell me what your needs are." He turned to his lead enforcer. Aure take care of the room." With nothing more to say, and a head nod form Aure Jr. stood and walked knowing the midget would be fallowing and keeping up.

Sitting at a round table Jr. lit up. The midget became interested so Jr. offered him one. As soon as the guy touched the cig Jr. knew. _"A full suit? Someone's got a lot of lien making something like that." _

The midget produced a lighter and lit up. Drawing deep and slowly exhaling. "Nice smoke, never tasted this brand before. Go good with a brandy sniffer." He speculated. Jr. chuckled almost darkly before explaining.

"Family brand, Dad and my younger brother have a tobacco farm not too far from Mistral." He made a jab with is finger at the cigar. "That's private stock, hand rolled." Jr. told him feeling rather prideful, one of his few family's legit business that wasn't a front for something.

When his father retired the task of upholding the other end of the darker business became his burden. Jr. had stepped up knowing what needed to be done. He had done fairly well in it. It suited him so he'd been told. Gathering information was like a puzzle to him and this guy was like a knotted up ball of yarn, something he had to unravel.

"I'm going to need to include a box of these." Said the false midget. Jr. loved this part of the job. He knew he was a fake, and Jr. bet the midget figured out he knew, he tried but knew he had not completely hidden his surprise, yet the two of them were going on, talking like each had fooled the other.

"Don't know about that, not many made each month." Jr. took a puff then ordered drinks from the tables communications unit. A short time passed before an enforcer with tray quietly came in and set the drinks down along with two table snacks, leaving just as quietly. Jr. watched as the midget chewed the table snacks. It was a light bulb moment as Jr. shook his head in wonder. _Now to blow it wide open._

"Kid, I got to say, that is the most realistic suite I've ever seen." To Jr.'s delight the kid had moxie, he didn't even flinch. He puzzled for a bit as if trying to understand what failed, before asking.

"My mouth, too small?" Jr. nodded. You can fill out, pad all you want, but, teeth are teeth. "Takes a lot of lien to make something like that. I'm guessing, but I'd bet you're that kid who runs Grimms Bane?" A nod back is all he got as the kid stood.

"Glad this farce is over, I want out of this thing." He took the vest off and reached up behind his head and pulled. Jr. thought the head would peeled off. Instead there was a hiss of air and the thing expanded like a balloon. Then he reached back grasped and pulled a long piece of plastic out, it looked like an oversized zip tie. Standing as the costume deflated he seemed to shoulder shrug the outfit, pulling the head up like a winter cap sending the whole thing falling forward, a big split showing down the back. Then Isaac stepped out of it like a par of pants. "That thing is hot." He complained before retrieving the cig and drink.

Jr. reached his hand out covering the drink before Isaac could pick it up. "I don't serve minors, especially young ones. Seen the news so I know you smoke, I'll let ya have that." The faunas didn't even push it Jr. noted. He let go the glass and leaned into the chairs back.

"I was given false ID and medical records. It says I was a victim of time dilation, but I really don't see any reason to pull that on you, so. On to business?" Jr. nodded with a smile liking that the kid wasn't being pushy.

"I need phosphorus delivered to Mavideniz, twice a month. He dug into the vest and pulled a ledger out handing it to Jr. "These are the requirements."

Reading the paper Jr. put his thoughts together. "You need a shipper, not me." The kid shook his head. "Grimms Bane needs a smuggler. Mavideniz declared it's self an independent nation a bit ago, Vale put some pretty ham stringing restrictions on our supplies. Then embargoed us."

Laying out his scroll Isaac called up the new law concerning Vale and Mavideniz. "The powers that be in Vale wanted Grimms Bane under there thumb, mostly to tell us what we can hunt, and not hunt, and how much were to be paid for it. In short driving us out of business."

Jr. scanned the display a bit to get the jist of it. "So, lots of roadblock's and Vale is the closest major phosphorus producer? They're using, that?" Jr. motioned to the script. Isaac nodded. Jr. leaned back took a sip and remembered he'd taken the kids drink. Using the table comm. Jr. called in another order for a non alcohol one. The kid seemed direct so… "So, were at the part now where I say. What's in it for me?"

The kid shrugged and spread his hands out shoulder high palms out. Reminding him a bit of Yang when she came back. "Why you get a toe hold into the sea lanes, to Vale and anyone looking your shipping out legal cargo. You can start getting to know the smugglers. Now. When the ship gets within transmission range of us, we send a small escort to make sure no grim attack it. Then they unload in Mavideniz west."

The next page is your cut. One half the cost after shipping. We based that from the cost of what it would take to ship in from another source, so half that. The data we have on you, and your integrity to unwritten contracts is why we approached you." Jr. saw the kid look down and he seemed frustrated. "Were doing it this way, because. Going to another source. With no grantee the same shit won't be dumped on us, again? No thanks. If we have to side step we will."

The conversation stopped as Jr. read and Isaacs drink arrived. Isaac seemed content to wait and smoke. Normally the customer started getting a little antsy not to mention nervous. It seemed off that a kid could be more at ease with this then Torchwick ever was. Jr. thought for a bit. Maybe it was just his flippancy. Who ever heard of a semblance only got ya high.

Jr. almost whistled when he saw the amount after shipping costs. "Well, I can see you want discretion and loyalty in this. I can set something up, take a few weeks?" Jr. asked. Isaac nodded adding. "I'll toss in an extra grand from my own pocket for a box every four delivery's. This are exceptional." He told Jr. raising the half smoked cigar.

Jr. frowned there was something odd about how this kid talked, but the money was more then enough. A legal operation too, well nothing wrong with, depending on where the ship was going to too tuck in a bit more. Jr. could see some good opportunity's opening at the shipyards. There clannish nature had road blocked even his fathers attempts. Becoming a regular would make quite the difference.

Falsifying the cargo, or destination paperwork was a snap for any good smuggler. Jr. daydreamed a bit as he wondered if after he learned the ropes, what he could get away with. Perhaps make a trading hub for himself. Might be nice for when he decided to retire. Juggling commerce going from place to place for the highest price sounded like it was right down his ally.

They talked some more as they finished their smoke. Jr. learned quickly the kid had a pretty good head on his shoulders. When he left by way of the VIP door with that suit folded up and stuffed in a bag. Jr. wasted no time setting things up. The quicker this was started the sooner the lien would roll in.

Jr. leaned on his desk his mind coming back to the present. Now after months of successful smuggling the kid was back and somehow he didn't like it. Something must have gone wrong, enough to send the kid here in person. Jr. stood standing to his full height. "Lets get this done." He said to no one. Out the office and down the hall, grabbing a drink at the bar on the way to his personal VIP lounge.

Jr. found Isaac in one of the more discreet booths. Smoking one of his brand no less. "You must treat those like gold." He said plainly to the youth as he slid into a chair. Isaac nodded smiling. Took another puff letting the smoke come out as he spoke. That smile he had completely vanished. "Got some real dirty business coming down on my family." Jr. straightened, thought about it and frowned puzzled. "Your orphaned, right?"

Isaac shook his head. "Was adopted a few months back, happened just before that dust up with Children's Services. The court case tried to put a gag order on the names of those involved, but, someone found out."

Jr. shook his head admiring the kid, he took no shit. First the school board and now this. With admiration coloring his voice Jr. asked. "I take it they wanted to vanish you?"

Rolling the cigar on an ashtray to knock of some ash Isaac spoke quieter. "Yep, wanted to tag me as a psycho, drug me up and keep me institutionalized. A friend adopted me to keep that from happing. I don't like name dropping, but you need to know just how severe it was, Ironwood was there, he's is a general from Atlas, he helped by bringing in some kind of special operations teem."

Jr. leaned back thinking as some of it fell into place. Grimms Bane had sent out a huge info dump on the world, killing grim was becoming easy for the hunters. If the updated travel zones were an indication. New weapons were being made, and that huge grim had been all over the news, and Isaac had been in the middle of it all. Yet, something troubled him.

"Grimms Bane is working with Atlas? I thought you worked for the White Fang? News says you are. Declaring the proof is that over half the town is faunas." The kid nodded as if he was expecting Jr. to realize the rest. "So, a smear campaign?" Jr. guessed. Isaac nodded again.

"Grimms Bane kills grim, it's what we do, and Ironwood has been financing some of the research for that end. Mostly providing defunct lab equipment. He also wanted some of the less popular faunas out of Atlas and Mantel. There is so many faunas wanting out of those places. So because of that we have a group fund we use, donations only, to ship faunas out of Atlas, Mantel, and Minstrel." Isaac saw Jr. put it in one sock as he paled a bit.

The idea of faunas with those kind of feelings about there former nation's, now, controlling an area from Mavideniz to Ménage, and then the White Fang with there attitude, it was a huge area and getting larger every day. With those weapons. The balance of power between the city's would shift and not for the better if Grimms Bane used those weapons. Jr watched Isaac take out his ID as all these thoughts rolled in his head.

With some unease Isaac looked at his plastic identity card and knew this would make Jr. all but faint, run, or try and include him in the kidnappings. Isaacs looked up his thoughts were stymied by a commotion at the door.

"Excuse me. Miss! This is a..." There was a loud whack ending the enforcers actions as the man sprawled practically bouncing on the floor, a short woman with odd hair was looking happy with herself as she walked smoothly around the enforcer and towards them. Jr. stood and seemed to swell up and was almost growling like a bear at the woman making a grand hand gesture. "Neo, this is private. Get out!"

Isaacs muscles in his head and back went ridged. Then he stood. This small woman had her eyes locked on him. "Neo? Neapolitan?" Isaac asked. "The one with Cinder Fall in the tournaments first round? You?" Isaacs ears folded as anger boiled in him a unnoticed hiss left him. Jr. half turned hearing that noise as Neo closed the gap.

"You? Know her?" Isaac tossed his ID to Jr. like a Frisbee "Read." He irately hissed coming around the table. Jr. caught the spinning ID by reflex.

Neo stopped just a step away, grinning at Isaac just a half a head, little above eye level to him. "Damn, you're a short one." Isaac told her visibly calmer. Then reached for Neos umbrella. Neo's expression had been a quirky smile that almost shouted _I'm kicking your ass._ Now she was frowning her eyes alternating in color as she rapidly blinked.

"Isaac don't." Jr. warned. "Just, get some distance from her."

Turning his head Isaac told Jr. "Read." Pointing at the card. To Neo he pointed at a chair. "Sit." Then took her umbrella as she stiffly walked past and sat on the chair next to the booth. "I wouldn't struggle to hard." Isaac warned. Holding up her umbrella for inspection. Smiling as he found a small latch. A soft click and he pulled out the rapier hidden in its center. "I may rupture something trying to keep you still." He warned her again.

Neos face was starting to shift into the red as Jr. finished reading Isaacs ID. The mans reaction was a slow slouch, making him look a bit like an old man. "I, I didn't know." The large man quietly said. He focused on Neo who was turning red faced and looking at them with a mix of anger and panic. Jr. knew why she was here, the ID said it all. What he didn't understand is why was she was just sitting? Isaac, he realized, it had to be his semblance, Jr. wanted to be sure so he asked approaching Isaac holding out his ID to him. "What did you do to her?" Isaac didn't answer right away he seemed completely focused on Neo.

Jr. handed Isaacs ID back before sitting and taking a huge gulp almost finishing his drink. A commotion at the door heralded the arrival of more enforcers, all with weapons drawn. Jr. gave them an emotionally tired wave. "It's settled." He told them disappointed. A few hesitated eyeing the room and Jr. while another picked up the one Neo played whack a mole with. As they filed out Jr. told them to bring in more drinks with a bottle.

"I don't believe in coincidences." Isaac said eyeing Neo as he set the two parts on the table. "Nothing happens without a reason." He walked the short distance to her asking. "Having trouble breathing?" Neo eyed Isaac moving her mouth, one of the few things she could move. Her face coloring was becoming a tinge of blue and gray."

"She's mute." Jr. offered. "Has been, I guess her whole life." Jr. scoffed a bit surprised seeing Isaac. Isaac had placed his hand on her belly next to the strum. "What are you doing? If you need..." Isaacs laugh cut him off.

"Too young for that bullshit, but thanks, no, I can't fully control what I'm doing to her, so contact, touching a point, I can free up some of the paralysis, allow her literally some breathing room." With that said Isaac moved his hand away and Neo started hyperventilating, just about panting as her diaphragm worked to get fresh air into her lungs. Isaac moved to her side laying hands on her lower then upper ribcage on both sides.

Jr. quietly snorted holding in a laugh as Isaac hesitated his face starting to redden before doing what looked like flat palm groping Neo, a hand on the front and back, repeating the motions on each side. Isaacs face continued truing almost as scarlet red as Neos had been. When he finished Neo gave a shuttering gasp as her lungs started working. Neo was acting as if she had held her breath for a long time.

"Sorry." Mumbled Isaac before going back to the umbrella. Jr. watched as Neos face turned back to its normal color, unlike Isaacs red face, he Jr. saw had yet to make any eye contact with Neo. After there drinks arrived Jr. rolled the ice in his and put the pieces together.

"So? You know." Jr. stated. This part of the job he also liked, half words and sentences, minor movements said it all. Isaac nodded. "Almost as soon as you did. The people you're dealing with we keep a watch on, we believe they're working with a cult that worship the grim. We know the pay offered is less then what we give you in a month, so most of us believe you will drop this and get on with business." Jr. Nodded somberly in agreement if a bit disappointed with Isaac.

"As much as I would _love_." Jr. emphasized. "Some _solid_ payback, I don't bite the hand that feeds me." He looked at Neo knowing what was probably going to happen. "You're going to be lucky if he lets you live." Neos expression said it all. _You're not going to do anything?_ Jr. made a motion to Isaac who had taken some small tools out from wrapped leather and was taking apart the umbrella handle.

"News broadcasts." Jr. told her with gravity. "Remember what they said about Isaac? He can twist around thousands of tons of water. The body is mostly water. I'm betting your aura hardly delayed what he did to you, and you think I'm getting involved? I'd like to see tomorrow thank you. Another thing. I'd have a better chance with your colleague's then with Grimms Bane." He took another hard hit from his drink before looking down into the glass. "Dad said there would be days like this." He knew after this he needed to find someplace to vanish too, just until things cooled off.

"The Bane call it puppeteering and no." He eye Neo. "Doesn't look good." Neo saw the cold unforgiving look, in a child's eyes no less, someone who knew death. Had seen and given it. Then the kid looked away working on disassembling her umbrella talking as he worked. Neo tried to move, she could, a bit, but nothing more then a bit. "You work with Cinder Fall, Mercury Black and that green haired esper. You work for the grim." He told her his voice devoid of emotion.

"Grimms Bane kills grim." He turned facing her. "Understand?" Isaac caught a quick double image shimmer where she sat then Neo's eyes widened. "Echo Teleportation wont work, but you know that now." Isaac almost growled at her. "When my sisters got mixed up with Torchwick I did a lot of study, a lot." Isaac kind of laughed. "I probably know more about the wiring in your home then the electricians."

Sighing through his nose Isaac remembered Neo couldn't answer. Turning back to the table Isaac turned to Jr. "The fact that she showed up, so soon after I did tells me someone is monitoring this place, from outside or inside I don't know." Isaacs voice turned calm as he was setting the parts neatly on the table. Then he started working on the main body. "So, as a favor, I could have a contact I know come over, give the place and surround a good once over. They may charge ya, a lot, but there good." He explained.

"I'll think about it, try some people of my own first." When Isaac nodded Jr. kept on. "I have to ask, from what I've read and seen of you. Just why is touching a woman like that difficult for you?"

Isaac eyed Jr. as if wondering if he even had the right to know, then seemed to shrug. "A man kidnapped and raped me, at age three, experimented on me. He was a sadist too, tossing me into pits to fight animals, even grim. Finely I had enough, killed him and almost forty others before I got away, don't even remember what my real name was. I was a number designated D short for disposable. Isaac turned to face Jr. and lifted his shirt. "I've known pain the likes no one here knows. So fondling her without permission was like a trip down dark memory lane."

"Is your back?" Jr. asked. Isaac gave him props most would blanc when he lied this story. So he pulled up his shirt even farther and turned. Jr. whistled between his teeth. Despite it all he couldn't meet Neos eyes as she stared. "Was, he human?" Jr. asked. Again Isaac nodded adding. "As were his costumers." Pulling the shirt down Isaac went back to the table and finished disassembling the umbrella laying everything out neatly then taking three pictures of it from different angles.

Sitting, to rest a bit Isaac drank Jr.'s non alcoholic while slowly putting Neos weapon back the way it was, smoking the rest of his cigar occasionally eyeing Neo as if he was trying to figer out what to do with her.

Jr. shifted a bit stiffly he knew asking this next question would be touchy. "I've seen faunas with far less abuse then what I've seen on you turn to the White Fang, don't you hate humans?" Isaac looked at Jr. somewhat surprised.

"You didn't do this, she didn't do this." Isaac looked a bit stressed when he said. "I can't wrap my head around this, I hear this all the time, like it's suppose to be a normal reaction. The grim are out there, killing anyone they can get. A small group did this, there dead for it. Other humans didn't do this to me, so, other then the jerks I run into, why should I hate them as a person or a people?"

Jr. leaned back making a kind of ok that makes sense head tilt. "Just asking, hate is an easy road, one I travel down a lot." Isaac chucked low understanding him a bit more. "Ya, I feel ya, having her do that, in public, then come back? Ya, I get it, but she's family now, and I've never known family, so I had to come." Isaac looked like a thought just bolted through his head. "Hang on a minute, no one has two semblances. Neo can shape shift and do a teleport that leaves a moving glass statue behind."

Jr.'s expression twisted in confusion. "Just what brought this on?"

"Got to test something." He stood walking to Neo whose eyes tracked him with hate. Neos eyes kept flickering from pink to brown as the boy reached for her. Isaac took her cheek and pulled. Jr quietly watched the whole thing sipping from his glass, curious as to what Isaac was up to. Neos facial expression contorted enough that there was no doubt, Isaac was not being even close to gentle.

When the pain became too much for her a colored ripple happened like folded paper and the cheek stretched to an impossible length. "Thought so!" Isaac declared in triumph letting her go. "This is why she looks so completely different then what was recorded in the tournament. She a faunas, an octopus faunas, that's why Neo can shift form and can't talk. She needs to be underwater to speak."

"What?!" Jr. made a time out T with his hands excited to the point that he almost stood on his chair. "Your saying she can breath underwater?" Isaac nodded. Adding "There's a bunch of em and other water faunas scattered along the shore from Ménage to our city, we trade, and most of the close ones, they work with Mavideniz West, but some of the aquatic hunters in Grimms Bane have been unlocking there auras, teaching them to become effective ocean hunters. They come back sometimes with some pretty interesting story's.

When octopus faunas come on land which I'm told is not often. Something to do with box lungs. They shift their skin and bone I guess to mimic, well, anything, and they can't talk. Underwater I'm told it's like hearing twitters. whistles and clicks." Isaac watched Neo trying to read her reaction, it would show him if he fingered it out right.

Instead Isaac was seeing only confusion. He started smiling then laughing. Slamming a small fist on the table exclaiming loudly. "By all the makers in all the worlds! She doesn't know! Not a clue! Oh, I have to let you go. This is too good to waste."

Isaac made a motion like shooing away a fly. Neos was fuming, just down right livid that this kid was acting like this to her. Then it all vanished when he candidly told her. "Go, jump in a lake and drown, that's what it will feel like the first time."

Isaac started laughing like a switch had been thrown and finished off his cig, put his tools away chuckling the whole time, then headed for the door. "Ta ta everyone. Jr. As always with you it's a good time. And Neo? I have your scent. You come near me or anything I care about I guarantee, you won't feel a thing, it'll be that quick. You mess with Jr. Grimms Bane will come for you. They're not above blowing up a crowded square or an entire building just to get you." Then he stopped adding without any emotion in his voice. "If there dead when I get to them, your goanna take a long time dieing, when I do find you."

To Neo, watching and reading people, especially in fights was something she was good at. Everything she saw said that this boy had done something like that, to someone before. His actions, shifting emotions were that of a psychopath. To her there was no faking a look like that. With a smile that said looking forward to _seeing_ you again, he left.

Neo bolted onto her feet as soon as the VIP door shut, glared at the exit and grabbed her umbrella by the handle, which promptly fell apart in her hands. Jr. stifled a laugh letting Neo know before she could do anything. "The kid like's me." Neo didn't seem to hear him as she sighed. Pulling out a hard case with a jewelers tool kit inside. She started arranging her weapon trying to find the parts to put things back the way they were. Most of the screws she found were in Isaacs almost empty glass.

Not wanting to hang around until Neo finished reassembling that umbrella Jr. discreetly left. Leaving the bottle for Neo. He had a lot to think about and some serious information to gather before he would feel comfortable dealing with Cinder or her followers. _A grim worshiper? Wonder who the head honcho is? Jr_. wondered aloud.

Before the day was done Jr. had sent feelers out, keeping things as quiet as he could. Quite a few wanted to know where the info came from. When he traded that information a small stream started coming in the next day. Jr. felt a bit cold after a week of getting info from informants about people, laws, and infrastructure. Two were on the counsel in his own city. Others scatter in the infrastructure. From law enforcement to sub municipalities.

Common people by the end of the next week started talking about the rumors about grim worshiper. Some saying it made sense. Look at the new laws. Others wanted proof, of which there was none.

Jr. would find in time that this was a dirty little world, even by his standards, he had stumbled on another culture, a hidden society that wanted to stay hidden. So he kept his distance to just a rumor at most, he wanted to stay a ghost on this one. Rather then become one. To that end he seriously considered a contract on Neo, it would be steep, she was no slouch, but she seemed to have just up and vanished never coming back to his bar. After three weeks Jr. went on a private vacation.

* * *

At a night pub in Mavideniz East called The Shadow Realm. A place where the Buzz liked to go and well, let go in safety. Their world was also becoming a murky one as the interesting random facts and evens ground down to long time study or waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The small bar with eatery made for an oasis in a dangerous environment, it could hold about three dozen and the shifting puzzle lock at the front door kept most out that were not members.

The backlights lit up the random patrons shifting from one color to another. As the music played just loud enough that anyone talking wouldn't reach five feet. The furniture and walls were painted or lacquered to shift and change depending on what light's or combinations of lights were on them. The effect on the eyes was people blurring in and out of sight. Or looked like the were only partly there. One mans hair shifted into random neon colors depending how he moved his head. He was talking to another who kept hidden in a dark full body cloak with hood that seemed to resist the color strobbing from the backlights.

"He did it." Said the cloak. "News is slowly trickling around from the bottom up, all the city's, even the towns are taking now, trying to get info, but he did it." The strobbing haired man nodded hardly a movement, but enough to see if you were close. "It was a long shot, but Jr. loves information, so he'll dig, and be a ghost?"

"Were making sure. There's no turning back now." Said the cloak. Strobbing haired man again nodded. "The parallel tower?" "Working around the clock. Not much time left." Answered cloak. The two finished talking were working on their drinks, then had a meal and another drink. Leaving the pub having never said another word to each other.

* * *

**And now, a word from Salem.**

* * *

"Bring him in." Salem spoke to the room. Knowing someone would be bringing to her the head of The Emerald Forests expeditions. She waited in her chair looking down as he walked the long hall getting more and more nerviness as he approached. After prostrating himself as was proper Salem asked. "Why have you come before me?" The man did not look up as he spoke to the floor.

"My Goddess, My Queen. The door has been found."

Salem felt her heart leap, hammering in her chest as she leaned forward. "I desire to know." The man nodded to her will.

"My Queen. The explanation given by the boy. A door opened he stepped through and it vanished. It is a gate. My Queen. Even now your devoted are tracking it back to its origin, it is a shifting gate. My Queen." He said no more awaiting her command.

"You and your team have done well you have my gratitude." Salem told him and waited as the man cried with joy. "But, but." She compelled him to pay attention. "I want a small discreet base built. See the Keeper of the garden, take twenty of the stones, my servants will know you do my will, and will pass you unmolested."

Salem waited for the appreciation to die down before speaking again. "When you are ready. Inform me. This is something I must attend to personally." After two heartbeats Salem looked down on the human saying as a parent to the child. "You may go, work well in my name, use what you must, find the origin point."

Salem smiled as he left. Knowing he was sneaking a peek at her, knowing her face smiling, showing approval would spur him on. "Soon." Salem murmured. "Soon." She left the audience hall to a much smaller and familiar room which was more window's then wall. Relaxing in familiarity until a seer came to her. She commanded her grim to gather in even greater number's. "Non will disturb your research." She vowed.

* * *

**Well, looks like someone's going to kick someone's ass**


End file.
